No wonder we took to the likes of Colin Craig and Kim Dotcom, and the other colourful clowns having a grab at the levers of political power. We always default to distraction. An election year is always a magical time and this one didn't disappoint. Take a bow Dirty Politics. Take a hike David Cunliffe. Take the wheel John Key.
The closed door outside of Cameron Slater's house became a regular sight, like number 10 Downing Street, not that the other Cameron has a rusty swing-ball set propped up outside, nor does he only emerge to make biblical themed threats as Slater does, my favourite being his, "You will reap what you sow."
We got sick of making fun of 7 Sharp in 2014, not because it got way better, although it got more familiar. Mike and Toni have a chemistry that the oversized panel never did. Perhaps it's some sort of Stockholm syndrome, but I have become disturbingly intrigued by the elastic movements that erupt across Toni's expressive face and the ability of Mike to seem happy and constipated at the same time.
Still, it was Campbell Live, which stayed on point, even if that focus can sometimes seem like a bit of a drone. "Not f-ing Christchurch again" said a chorus of Auckland viewers. But the moment that sticks is John Campbell and Peter Dunne hanging around the legal high shops of the Naenae mall, revealing that other New Zealand.
"He's lost" John said of a raving local who was high as a kite, "he's legally lost."
The hosts of 7 Sharp Mike Hosking, Toni Street and Jesse Mulligan.
Paul Henry's show wasn't as good or as terrible as many expected, not that he had much competition, unless you count Greg Boyed standing about with his hands in his pockets.
Henry came to life during the election and introduced his daughter as a satirical trickster with her dry-as Whale Oil routine: When asked what she thought of Whale Oil, as part of an informal political panel, she replied: "I don't know if it's oil from the Whale or if it's just oil in the sea that the whales are around?"
It was a performance so ridiculous that only an idiot would fall for it, and by idiot, I mean me. Mind you, I also fell for Forgotten Silver.
Paul Henry's daughter Bella Hopes.
Tears came to my eyes just this week as Louis Theroux hung out with Americans dying in an LA hospital. He still has no equal. And tears were there when Dave Dobbyn sang with the Orpheus Choir in the moving documentary Dreams Lie Deeper, a terrific tribute to the men lost at Pike River in 2010, it was the bitter-sweet moment of the year by a mile. It was also testament to the fact that when all else fails, music can work wonders.
Kim Dotcom's "Moment of Truth" was a definite moment. It's not strictly TV, but what is these days? I sat down with an iPad to watch this, and was transfixed despite the ultimate fizzing feeling that it left me with. This was a happening, a technological marvel, it was electronic theatre. Assange, one of this era's defining characters, loomed screen-left, but sadly only managed to suck the life out of the room.
But Edward Snowden was utterly compelling and Greenwald was as convincing as ever. But the cloud of Kim's smoking gun- the Warner Brother's email that no one believed to be real - hung over the event like a dog sniffing around Peter Leitch's wheelie bin.
Other things stuck in the mind:
• The death of Joffrey on
Game of Thrones
.
• The uncomfortable genius of the insane costume comedy
Hunderby
.
• The Christchurch earthquake reimagined by
Hope and Wire
.
• The six minute tracking shot on
True Detective
.
• Laughton Kora's explosive entrance on
Cover Band
.
• The intriguing and cheerfully disturbing world of the Greymouth Christian community, revealed in
Gloriavale: A World Apart
.
• The Kiwi's Four Nations triumph.
• The sweary, bogan, mums on
MKR NZ
.
• The time Patrick Gower described Judith Collins as "a whopping great political distraction in an
Adrienne Winkelmann
jacket."
But one moment stands above all others.
Pam Corkery's outburst at the media.
Clearly, Pam Corkery's "Puffed up little shit" outburst was the TV moment of the year. Corkery has long been one of our most colourful broadcasters, so her transition to press secretary for the Internet-Mana Party raised eyebrows rather than expectations. The party's election launch should have been a PR opportunity but it became a farce with Dotcom running from the event and Corkery blowing her top.
Her rage at the assembled journalists lit up the screens of the nation.
It was poacher, turned gamekeeper, going thermo-nuclear, or some combination of those elements. It was also timed perfectly for the 6 o'clock news. TV3's Brook Sabin was the 'shit' in question. The other journalists were given a parting "when will you glove puppets of Cameron Slater just piss off?" It was also the win-win situation of the year. For those who share the view that journalists are getting too full of themselves - and there are many in that cohort - this was the moment of truth.
Apparently people still come up to Pam everyday and say "Good on you" for her dressing down of the PULS and GPOCS, but her spectacular tanty was also a gift for journalists, for the National Party, and especially for TV3, who ran the moment at least a dozen times, even leaving the word "shit" un-beeped, unlike TVNZ. But all media relished the gift that Pam provided and milked it like a Guernsey. Perhaps the best summary of the event was from Corkery's own daughter, who saw the clip online and said to her mother, "Dear God, you crazy woman, you're not in an episode of Veep."
• What was your TV moment of the year? Have your say below or join the conversation on Facebook.
- nzherald.co.nz
