Seven Sharp lives up to hype
With the buildup for Seven Sharp (TV One, week nights) being even more dramatic than rates by instalment, could it deliver on its promise?
By and large, it did. There was some easy dialogue between the three presenters and a quirky look behind the scenes in Parliament.
John Key was interviewed in the prime minister’s office by Heather Du Plessis Allan. Now that was strange in itself. Her name is three times longer than the PM’s and she could have demanded the same amount of attention.
She didn’t. She kept firing the questions from the background as viewers were taken on a frantic tour from the lobby to Bellamy’s to the urinal. Was this where diplomatic leaks take place?
Meanwhile the presenters quickly engaged the audience through interactive social media. That was shrewd and should attract younger viewers.
They asked who should lead the PM on to the Waitangi marae. The best answer, which brought back memories of Norman Kirk 40 years ago, was a young child. I suspect the presenters didn’t quite know their history.
In the middle of the fun was a powerful interview with Lieutenant Colonel Bill Blaikie who returned from service in Afghanistan suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. A year ago he tried to take his life; last week he went skydiving. This week he should be leading John Key on to the marae for telling his story.
Seven Sharp ended with yet another celebrity interview, in which Josh Groban set Kanye West’s tweets to music.
Many of us don’t know Kanye West, don’t care about his tweets but do care about Josh Groban’s visit Down Under. Yes, Auckland, April 13 – but is that New Zealand?
Monday night was a promising start for Seven Sharp. It rewarded the hype, allowed the presenters to chat – some time in the future they’ll have the courage to disagree with each other – and threw in some quality current affairs.
Some time soon they could give John Key a middle name like du Plessis or Tite- whai or even Hussein like his friend Barack Obama.
Rose from The Blue Rose (TV3, Mondays) is very blue. She has been found dead in Auckland Harbour. She might have slipped and drowned but Linda, her best friend, suspects foul play.
Now Linda’s like a misguided missile from North Korea, a pitbull with King Kong tendencies, and has so few social graces that she slugs Grant, Rose’s ex, at her funeral. Meanwhile the demure Jane, Rose’s replacement at an Auckland law firm, is left to look after the phones while everyone attends the funeral.
Instead she snoops through some files and finds a memory stick. There’s more to Jane than her peter pan collar. She then, unbelievably, shares the information with Linda.
Antonia Prebble plays Jane, the one convincing character in The Blue Rose. The remainder are more posers than personalities. It’s too early to decide whether it’s important for viewers to like them or not.
One day New Zealand writers will learn to craft some worthwhile characters to balance the ledger but, in the meantime, we’re left with Linda and Grant, Krystal and Peterson and the creepy IT guy.
Just as long as they find Rose’s murderer.