Best of the Blogs: TVNZ's Kiwi Living guilty of 'lifestyle shaming'

Miriama Kamo and celebrity chef Michael Van De Elzen host Friday night's Kiwi Living.

We’re looking back at our columnists most popular pieces from 2015. Today, everything's for sale in TV One's primetime infotainment punt, writes Duncan Greive.

Lou isn't happy. She's standing next to her wardrobe, while Luke Bettesworth, a taut Auckland man with a meticulously trimmed beard, rifles through her clothes. He starts methodically grabbing hooded sweatshirts, brisk and economical in his action, while asking questions dripping with disappointment.

"Do you feel good in these?" Bettesworth asks.

"I do, because they're warm and comfy," Lou replies.

"I might change your opinion," he warns.

A few minutes later they're down in her living room in suburban Christchurch. Her children and husband look on meekly. Bettesworth, having informed Lou that her signature hoodies and bootcut jeans are not acceptable, has a solution: "It's time to get on a plane to Auckland and sort out your wardrobe," he announces with a flourish.

It's the second segment on the second episode of Kiwi Living, TV One's new Friday night vehicle, hosted by Sunday presenter Miriama Kamo and celebrity chef Michael Van de Elzen. The show promises "a fun and informative mix of lifestyle and entertainment television, bringing viewers the best of New Zealand's food, travel, living spaces, health and well-being, fashion and the outdoors".

If that formula sounds familiar, it should. For years TV One has been getting a good chunk of viewers and an even better chunk of dollars with Good Morning, a mix of sponsored segments and idle chat running from 9am every weekday. What Kiwi Living represents is an attempt to use a near-identical formula not in the quiet wastelands between Breakfast and lunch, but right in the heart of prime time. I'm not the first to suggest that a more accurate title for Kiwi Living would be 'Good Evening' ...

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