Airline USA - On the Fly, TV2 Thursday at 8pm: On the fly indeed, for this is all fly-on-the-wall stuff. The stuff of reality television - and nothing is more real than having to languish in an airport lounge for a few hours waiting to join terrible queues to get on an aircraft. And after several hours of losing all sense of feeling in the nether regions, and having your space invaded by the galah in front who puts the seat as far back as he can, you have to shamble off in another queue down an aisle made for one. One trolley. And they always have it there at the very time you want to go to the lav'. Mind you, after you've seen a few of these airline shows you start to realise that it's often a minor miracle they actually get the things off the ground in the first place. Well, certainly get them off the ground on time. Because the "people factor" steps in. I watched a recent series about the organised madness and people herding that goes on at the remarkable (and dauntingly vast) Dubai international airport and came to the conclusion that such set-off and stop-off journey points would operate a whole lot better if they didn't have to deal with the public. So anyway, here we have the American take on the whole travel deal. Same situations, different people.
New Zealand Music Awards, Four at 8.30pm Thursday: According to the promotional blurb thing I uncovered this is the 48th annual Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards. I didn't know Vodafone had been going that long? And isn't it remarkable to think the Rolling Stones have actually been together longer than our awards have been taking place. Funny old world the world of music, and in terms of New Zealand music I have to confess that I am entirely out of touch. I guess it's an age thing really. I was up with it until the mid-80s when Crowded House were flying about at their peak but today I wouldn't know a Shapeshifter from an Unknown Mortal Orchestra. I have however heard of Lourde ... who hasn't. And I've heard of the Datsuns (up for best rock album) because my ears have still not recovered from a concert I saw them put on about four years. But then the days of music shows turning up on telly are pretty well long gone, and the only method I ever learned in pursuing a recording was leafing through racks of vinyl albums. Now it's all digital and online and app and iPod and whatever. But here's the chance for those like me to catch up with the Kiwi musical landscape as the awards are dished out to those who stepped up to the mark and delivered.
George Clarke's Amazing Species, TV1 at 8.30pm Friday: Last year, as a focus of his series about remarkable inventions and the like, Stephen Fry came up with a grand winner which be believed was the most significant of them all ... in terms of what it did for the human race. It was the simple and humble lighter. He argued that fire was what got the human race started back when we vied for prairie space with the apes. But I reckon the shipping container is right up there now. We have made small homes and offices out of them. Even prison cells, garages and general storage rooms which can be put down and picked up at the push of a delivery truck's lever. They can be handy, although in this final episode of Clark's intriguing look at ingenuity, the chap who decided a shipping container would make the perfect office for his gardening pursuits struck a few niggles.
