SPY: Too nice for TV?

Even TV types are human too - Mike McRoberts aka The Brown Jesus. Photo / Robert Trathen

Eric Young delivered cookies, Rachel Smalley and Amanda Gillies fawned over the competition, and The Brown Jesus told Twitter fans that he missed his kids and his annual Father's Day breakfast in bed. Has the Christchurch quake shaken up the competitive newsroom spirit and delivered too much compassion among the TV journos?

Today's Herald reported that Mike McRoberts (aka The Brown Jesus) criticised his network's coverage of the earthquake. McRob said TV3's ratings reflected "a poor decision by 3 not to go with continuous coverage throughout the day".

Smalley agreed. She told Twitter fans: "Rolling coverage would have most certainly given us a strong lead-in."

The Nightline presenter may have dissed her bosses, but she had kind words for the opposition. Smalley congratulated her rival network's ratings. "TVNZ's ratings are great ... I imagine they'll be delighted. Very good ratings indeed," she Tweeted.

She also had time to acknowledge the work of her competition at the nation's network. "Great job in the chair today from Rawdon Christie and Miri. Good lives from Joy too. Kudos where it's due."

Meanwhile, McRob was acknowledging his domestic goddess counterpart at Prime. "The lovely Eric Young from Prime has just been round with freshly baked cookies. See TV types can play nicely," he said via Twitter.

Over the ditch in Oz, TV3's Amanda Gillies was fawning over TVNZ's Melissa Stokes. "Nice work in Chch you," she Tweeted. Gillies noticeably didn't share the same words with her colleague Sam Hayes who was reporting from the quake zone for Nightline.

It should come as no surprise Gillies is all about the love. The beautiful Australian correspondent is loved up with TVNZ's Greg Boyed, who was looking rough-and-ready and unshaven when he was Spy-ed at the airport last week meeting his beloved off a late flight from Sydney. Gillies travelled business class. My spy tells me they didn't care who saw them snogging as they queued for the parking machine.

But with all this love and admiration across the networks, can we only rely on hard-nosed news chiefs Mark Jennings and Anthony Flannery to supply the competitive wise cracks?

-Herald Online