Once upon a time, TVNZ had an intelligent weekly current affairs show called Agenda. Hosted by Simon Dallow, it provided a serious look at politics, with an in-depth interview every week. But ratings were poor - perhaps because they buried it at obscene o'clock on a Sunday morning - and so TVNZ demanded changes. Dallow departed to front One News, and was replaced by a string of other hosts. They added a theatre slot, and then sport, and threw in Jane Clifton just to make it clear it was no longer serious. Then they cancelled it.
Now its back, rebranded as Q&A, and TVNZ has managed to top their even their previous efforts of dumbing down and debasement with a new host: Paul Holmes. Paul fucking Holmes. if that's TVNZ's idea of "serious and intelligent", then it confirms every joke ever made about media executives.
Screw that. Life is too short to waste my Sunday mornings on like that. If I want to watch overinflated egos greasing and smarming to the powerful, I can watch patsy questions in Question Time. And they'll be about as informative.
