Magic Kiwis - Lynn & Fred

It was a celebration of a type of New Zealand character I'd always liked, and there's a bit of that in my background and I don't mock that at all...

– John Clarke on the idea that Fred Dagg mocked Kiwi farmers and rural life

The more we did it, the further I went from what I really liked about doing it in the first place — which was partly a celebration of the national character and partly something like a genuinely satirical intent. It gets blunted when you start having to tap dance and do commercials, and all that sort of stuff.

– John Clarke on retiring the character of Fred Dagg

Now cut that out, Madonna!

– Lynn of Tawa (Ginette McDonald) in a popular Mitre 10 advertisment

We had estate agents, and people like that used to make more than passing comments about the fact it was affecting our trading possibilities...

– Former Mayor of Tawa Mervyn Kemp, on the negative impact Lynn of Tawa had on his suburb's name

As I remember it at the time, she wasn't asked to be on it. I think the television mandarins of the time were terribly fearful about having her near a Royal Variety Concert.

– Ginette McDonald's brother and creative collaborator Michael on Lynn of Tawa being a late invite to the 1981 Royal Variety Show appearance

Other people were doing it in books and plays ... John was our first television satirist, and to date our best.

– Tom Scott on John Clarke