Roger Moroney: Giving the audience a Happy Hour

TVNZ variety show starring Temuera Morrison and Keisha Castle Hughes. Photo / Supplied

Variety shows ... remember them?

Those colourful shows filled with ... variety.

Lots of interaction with the audience from the master of ceremonies, and plenty of singing and laughter (when the skits hit the mark).

The enthusiastic and excited faces of the cast and the endless rolling out of item after item.

It sounds a little like the concert party from It Ain't 'Alf Hot Mum but, hopefully, none of the crew from this Kiwi series was instructed to dress in women's clothing.

Yep, it's been a fair old time, but the Kiwi variety show is back, well for four weeks at least. And, sportingly, the schedulers have given it a 9.30pm start time to avoid bumping into a certain rugby match will be playing itself out until around 9.15pm.

An 8.30pm timeslot for the new show called Happy Hour would have scuttled its chances.

Audience numbers would not have given the ratings list even the slightest of nudges.

Yes, it has been a while since the likes of Billy T James, Prince Tui Teka and the Howard Morrison Quartet graced the small screens as participants in variety shows.

Billy T James set the standard after the late great entertainer staged the Radio Times variety series, which then became the Billy T James Show, which rolled out skits and characters still mimicked today.

Like the weather forecasts and that laugh ...

The Howard Morrison Quartet also did their time on television, so it is kind of fitting that the nephew of the leading man fronts up to help steer this four-part series of shows.

Temuera Morrison hosts Happy Hour along with comedian Mike King who steps up as the MC.

It was devised as a stage show and went live at the Mercury Theatre during July - with cameras recording it all for television.

Which is a very good thing, because like any show a live and willing audience beats a studio setting any time. It's all about quick-fire skits, comedy and song - and the song side is well taken care of by a group called the Modern Maori Quartet.

The group sparked into life a couple of years ago after four young Maori actors decided to embark on a spot of singing laced with humour as a means of getting by between acting gigs. They hit the right chord, literally.

Some comfortable crooning and lots of laughs, and part of their act involves taking a Kiwi song and giving it a whole new twist - then playing it alongside the original artist with just a guitar or ukulele for accompaniment.

Bailey Mackay, who produced the reality show The GC, steered the shows and said they were inspired by the works of Billy T, Prince Tui Teka and the Howard Morrison Quartet.

"The show is good-natured, relaxed Kiwi fun that celebrates the strengths and personality of our home-grown talent," he said. "It allows audiences to enjoy the natural warmth and rapport they create."

For Morrison, it was a special time. "I grew up with television variety shows and watching my uncle, Howard Morrison, performing on them ... and at times I even stepped in and performed with him, so I have wonderful memories of those days."

Keisha Castle-Hughes also steps in to aid and abet Morrison and watch for a string of interesting guests.

• Happy Hour, TV1 at 9.30pm Saturday: Familiar faces from the world of Maori entertainment 2014 style have gathered together to recreate the variety shows once rolled out by their on-stage predecessors of decades past. Whether today's demanding audiences can sit back and relax and watch a gentle-paced, easy-going variety show remains to be seen, but hats off to TVNZ for giving the genre another shot.

On the box

• Hawke's Bay vs Northland, Sky Sport 1 at 8pm Friday: As I explained to one chap whose knowledge of rugby is effectively nil, the Ranfurly Shield will not be on a flight north for this clash at Whangarei ... it will be standing proudly in its spot at Hawke's Bay Rugby HQ. Away games don't count, but at the end of the day one hopes the Magpies will go in with the same resolve as they did against Counties. Another win here and the season is very well on track, and then we can start thinking about hosting the Otago lads ... for the log.

• All Blacks vs Argentina, Sky Sport 1 from 6.30pm Saturday: Rugby is ruling the roost in the Bay at the moment ... it has even eclipsed the growing avalanche of political to-ing and fro-ing as the election edges closer. It's like it was all planned ... because the colours of our provincial team are black and white and the national team is black, with slices of white. And Northland, who we play on Friday, are light blue and white ... and Argentina, the ABs' opponents in this McLean Park clash in Napier, wear light blue and white. Is that spooky or what?

• Sunday Imports on TV3, Four and Prime: Singing, posing and cooking - Australian and American style. Are we interested? Well apparently, because these three channels spend the early evening promoting them. There is X Factor Australia, America's Next Top Model and Masterchef USA. Relevance to Kiwidom? Zilch. But I guess everything in life is subjective and people will watch them, for some reason. I just think it makes for a good case of reducing television hours back to a 6am start and shut-down at midnight - and be more selective as to what gets shown. These are just time fillers.