Paddy Gower Has Issues, has a nomination for Best Current Affairs Programme. Photo / Supplied
Egos may have been bruised this week in the world of news and entertainment, with the announcement of this year’s nominations for the New Zealand Television Awards.
One battle to watch is Best Presenter - News And Current Affairs, with nominations for Paddy Gower in his roles at Newshub and Three, including his show Paddy Gower Has Issues; Jack Tame for TVNZ 1′s Q+A and Jenny May-Clarkson for TVNZ 1′s Breakfast.
Elsewhere, Paddy Gower Has Issues, has a nomination for Best Current Affairs Programme and Gower’s sidekick, Karen O’Leary, has picked up a nomination for Best Presenter Entertainment, for her work on the show.
O’Leary is in the category up against Sonia Gray in TVNZ 1′s Kids Wired Differently and Alice Snedden for Bad News on The Spinoff.
Spy is sure the networks will have all their teams cheering on their colleagues at the glamorous red carpet night at the Viaduct Events Centre on December 5, which will be hosted by actor and comedian Kura Forrester.
This year comedy looks a standout in the categories as Best Actress sees co-stars Madeleine Sami and Antonia Prebble up against each other for their roles as a pregnant couple in Three comedy Double Parked. Newcomer Amanaki Prescott-Faletau completes this category, gaining a nomination for her performance in Whakaata Māori’s Inky Pinky Ponky.
The critically acclaimed show stars Prescott-Faletau as a transgender or fakaleitī student Lisa, who starts her fourth high school after having to leave three schools due to bullying. The show also has a nod forBest Drama and Best Pasifika Programme.
Best Actor pitches Ireland against New Zealand once again this week and all three nominations are from TVNZ 1 dramas. Irish actor Richard Flood is nominated for The Gone - he is up against Kiwi actors Dominic Ona-Ariki for One Lane Bridge and Neill Rea for his long-running murder mystery series The Brokenwood Mysteries.
The Gone and The Brokenwood Mysteries are also up for Best Drama.
Flood’s co-star in The Gone, Irish actressMichelle Fairley is nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Also in the category are Sesilia Pusiaki for Inky Pinky Ponky and Katlyn Wong for TVNZ 2′s Princess of Chaos.
Best Comedy has four nominations in the category including:
7Days - Three
Homebound 3.0 - Three
Not Even - Sky Open
Educators -TVNZ 2
Best Māori Programme has Three’s The Hui up against Whakataa Māori’s Te Ao with Moana and RNZ’s NZ Wars, Stories of Wairau.
Best Original Reality Series has ThreeNow’s dating showHeartbreak Island competing with twoTVNZ 1shows, Unbreakable - about the ambitions of Kiwis with disabilities - and Stan Walker’s show about his family, The Walkers.
If your favourite entertainer hasn’t had a nod, your opportunity to do just that will be in the public vote in the 2023 Television Personality of the Year category, which will be announced soon.
The New Zealand Television Awards takes place on December 5.
* This story has been updated to correct the previous statement that suggested Hilary Barry was snubbed for the awards. Barry since contacted Spy and confirmed she never entered.