Telethon - 1981 show

The Telethons in other countries were much shorter in duration. Here the small child with a recorder from Gore could get as much airtime as a major act from Auckland — that entertainment democracy is what gave it its charm. Schools and clubs got involved in the build-up months beforehand. It was this strange, crazy, wild, wonderful circus. God knows how many press-ups I had to do on national television.

– Television veteran Andrew Shaw on New Zealand's Telethons, in the 1970s and 80s, The Australian Women's Weekly, 6 July 2015

Telethon was a real change. The people you saw on the box every night, reading the news seriously, suddenly had a human face — they became normal...in those days we didn’t have such a thing as 'celebrities' — that came later. TV presenters didn’t appear on the covers of women’s magazines until the late 1980s.

– Broadcaster turned academic Aline Sandilands, on the novelty of early Telethons in New Zealand, The Australian Women's Weekly, 6 July 2015