Jeremy Wells is among the celebrities reading bedtime stories in TVNZ's OnDemand Goodnight Kiwi. Photo / Supplied
Jeremy Wells is among the celebrities reading bedtime stories in TVNZ's OnDemand Goodnight Kiwi. Photo / Supplied
COMMENT:
Show me a New Zealander of a certain age who doesn't admit to feeling all warm and fuzzy inside when they see a Goodnight Kiwi clip and I'll show you a liar.
For many years, that animated kiwi and his cheeky little cat friend signalled the end of TVNZ'stransmission each night, as they sleepily put their milk bottle out, switched the lights off at their studio and jumped in the lift to their cosy wee bed in a satellite dish.
It was a much-loved part of New Zealand's TV landscape that bade its inevitable farewell in 1994 when TVNZ made the switch to 24-hour broadcasting.
I remember watching that final Goodnight Kiwi broadcast, but any sadness for the end of that tradition was tempered by the excitement of round-the-clock telly. If I'd only known what was coming though - that by 2019, we'd be at absolute TV saturation point with more channels and more streaming services than we could ever hope to keep up with.
But if you happened to be browsing one of those streaming services this week, you may have noticed that the Goodnight Kiwi is back. Having undergone a bit of a "glow-up", our favourite animated kiwi and his cat friend are on TVNZ OnDemand in a new series of short bedtime stories.
The two icons are joined by some other slightly less famous Kiwis, like Jeremy Wells, Hilary Barry, the Topp Twins, Stacey Morrison and Oscar Kightley, as they read popular bedtime story books, with illustrations that come to life on screen.
For many years, this image signalled an end to TVNZ's programming for the day. Photo / Supplied
The first two episodes feature What Now's Evander Brown reading The Bomb and Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek teaming up to read Baa Baa Smart Sheep. The latter duo are especially good at reading a bedtime story. So much so, that if the whole TV and film career ever falls over for them, they'd have a good back-up gig telling stories about smart sheep and quirky turkeys.
Having these celebs reading New Zealand picture books is certainly a very cute way of bringing the Goodnight Kiwi back to our screens, but I have a really wild idea: Why not bring him back for his original mission – marking the end of the TV transmission for the night?
I mean, how many of us would really, truly miss linear TV if it went off air at midnight?
If you take a quick glance through those late-night schedules, three very common content themes emerge: reruns, infomercials and bad movies.
For a start, nobody would likely miss the infomercials. Any buying decision being made at 2.30am is probably one that will be regretted come the harsh light of day.
Seven Sharp's Hilary Barry features in the new series Goodnight Kiwi. Photo / Supplied
And do we need reruns of Home Improvement? Do we need to see Private Practice again? Or Two And A Half Men? (Did we ever need Two And A Half Men?)
Would we also miss seeing Bromans, one of the worst reality shows ever made, with its bunch of British lads tasked with living like Roman gladiators? Or films like Big Momma's House 3?
Sure, we might miss out on some gems that only ever pop up on telly in the wee hours of the morning, like Annabelle 2 about a doll-maker being terrorised by one of his own dolls, but if we're very honest with ourselves, late-night TV doesn't really offer much for anybody anymore.
For many people, if they want to watch a bit of TV in the early hours, they have all those streaming services to peruse. And for many others that don't have unlimited streaming as an option, they often have some system in place that can record and store up a few shows for watching later.
And for those who can't do either of the above, well, I dare say they had the means of coping before 24-hour TV was around, so they can probably manage again.
So, come on TVNZ, let's extend this new Goodnight Kiwi story-telling business and use our animated hero for the task for which he was always intended. Just switch transmission off for the night after he and Jeremy Wells have read us all to sleep. You'd be doing the nation a solid.
