"She had too much makeup on. She doesn't need that much - sometimes less is more," wrote Craftylady1, before all hell broke loose. Partisan politics make for lively debate and our screens have a shedload of opinionated opinion-whores to keep us well satisfied.
I caught the bug watching the legendary Ralston Group on TV3, back when the channel was more brash than Block. We had seen very little like this on our three TV channels.
Partisan politics make for lively debate and our screens have a shed load of opinionated opinion-whores to keep us well satisfied
Thrusting egos fuelled by wine, having a good old barney about the fractured politics of the day.
Hosted by Bill Ralston in a period Escena suit, it remains the show with the rep that it has never been bettered. Ralston had an air of bemused menace and a knack for creating a party vibe.
The timing was also important, the neoliberal utopia was still under construction and this engorged the guests, who typically favoured right wing/free market views, perhaps not surprising given the Muldoon years were still clearly visible in the rear-vision mirror. NZ On Screen has an episode from 1991 in which Trevor de Cleene, Leighton Smith, and Robyn Langwell argue against the ACC, with then-RNZ political editor Richard Griffin standing alone to defend the socialist institution. I'd forgotten about the Barney Rubble appeal of de Cleene and his walking stick, the man was TV gold.
The DNA of The Ralston Group can be seen in panels that assemble today on Q&A and The Nation, but the best post Ralston Group televised argument on our shores was provided by Willie Jackson's Eye To Eye, which ran on Sunday mornings on TV1 for six years. Jackson, a natural know-it-all and occasional bully, was the perfect ringmaster, dragging in left-winge-ers, like Chris Trotter, and right-ranters, cue Michael Hooton. The show bubbled with energy.
The right/left divide may be reductive but it's been durable for a reason. Best served up by protagonists with bloated egos and black-and-white politics, there can be no better, nor more entertaining example than the time Gore Vidal and William F Buckley Jr slugged it out during the 1968 US convention season. Vidal was a snooty leftist and cultural satirist, Buckley a high priest of the Republican Party and human sneer. The battle was epic.
The story of the encounter is told brilliantly in the documentary Best of Enemies, which I watched again last week (Netflix). These were intellectual prize fights on prime-time TV and they are credited or discredited with changing political discourse forever, turning debate into a spectacle.
Perhaps it did begat the likes of Fox News and CNN's Crossfire and all that, leading us to all the way to Trump? Or maybe we just love a good fight, some sizzle in all the dribble.
It's early days, but TVNZ's new late-night show Banter is showing good understanding of schoolyard fight appeal of the argument. It's not the Ralston Group but it's a refreshing addition. Hosted by comedian and podcast maverick Tim Batt, the show I saw recently fizzed with energy and argument as the right wing artist formerly known as Whale Oil jousted gently with left-leaning comedian James Nokise and TV1's Jack Tame.
But for all his sins (he's an intolerant arsehole), the host of Real Time With Bill Maher (Soho) is my favourite of all the ringmasters of discourse. Bill's part old-school comedian, (Bill Hicks + Don Rickles) and a political obsessive.
He's also a champion Trump baiter, in fact Donald sued him a few years back, unsuccessfully, after Maher alleged that Don's dad was an orangutan and demanded to see the birth certificate.
His jokes are harsh, mean-spirited and often brilliant, and most importantly, he runs a good argument, bringing high-ranking conservatives to his extremely liberal show.
It's like throwing red meat to the studio audience, and who doesn't enjoy that?
The Ralston Group (NZ On Screen)
Banter (Duke, Tuesdays 8.30 and On Demand)
Real Time with Bill Maher (Soho)
The Nation (TV3)
