Burning a candle for late-night leaders
It was 10pm on a Wednesday in 2007. The timeslot where TVNZ put all the awesome shows it made but was kind of embarrassed of. I was watching Moon TV, one of my favourite Kiwi comedies at the time.
The recurring segment ‘‘Sports Chat’’ came on with host Leigh ‘‘That Guy’’ Hart, Jason Hoyte and Matai Johnson riffing absolute crap about sports. I assumed it was riffed – if they had a script or a plan they were very good at hiding it.
The segment could not be more casual. Three dudes sitting around on couches in what looked to be an upmarket pub. The only ‘‘set dressing’’ was the fact that Hartwas holding a rugby ball. I loved it.
Normally the segment featured a ‘‘special guest’’, aka a washed-up Auckland-based rugby player looking confused, but today they had a relatively unknown politician who had just become the leader of the National Party – John Key. Wow, what a dramatic reveal!
At the time, to me, he seemed like a bad get. I was a 19-year old studying Political Science and I barely knew or cared about Key. I doubted anyone else would be impressed he was on the show.
He hardly spoke, it wasn’t his fault, like most Moon TV guests he was used mainly for awkward cutaways. As the Sports Chat crew riffed about their new rugby strategy, the ‘‘defensive bomb’’, and the pre-match shower, punchlines would be emphasised with a shot of Key looking incredibly uncomfortable or incredibly bored.
It was very funny but also very weird. You hardly look like a PrimeMinister-in-waiting after appearing on a show like that. I thought it reeked of desperation.
Just over a year later, Key was PrimeMinister! Did the Moon TV appearance help? It obviously didn’t hurt.
Four years later, I’d started working on a new TV show called Jono and Ben. It aired at 10pm on a Friday night, where TV3 put all the awesome shows it was kind of embarrassed by.
I had a terrible segment at the time where I would interview ‘‘celebrities’’ with the help of an 8-year-old child feeding me questions through an earpiece while the likes of Auckland mayor Len Brown looked confused.
My second interviewwas a young, media-savvy, backbench Labour MPcalled Jacinda Ardern. Wow, was that a dramatic reveal? It was to me.
Just eight years later Ardern became the Prime Minister! Thanks almost entirely to her interview with me.
I’m joking, but after that hidden earpiece interview went well, Ardern became a regular guest on Jono and Ben – appearing at least once a year, she was a guest on my terrible interview segment The Guy Williams Show just months before she became PM.
Will appearing on dodgy late- night shows become a new political tradition for our future leaders? Obviously, it’s not a given it will work, and many MPs have left the 7 Days’ ‘‘Yes Minister’’ segment in a huff.
Almost every failed Labour leader appeared on Jono and Ben: Phil Goff was good, David Shearer tried hard, David Cunliffe refused. We later learned why whenwe accosted him on the street... it was the right call, the dude was terrifying.
In a special way that only he can, Winston Peters somehow got us into trouble almost every time he appeared on the show. I was surprised at how up for anything Simon Bridges was, and Paula Bennett popping out of nowhere and saying ‘‘come to mummy’’ to me is something that will haunt me for the rest of my life (but it was very funny).
For better or worse, Key and Ardern set a new standard for our politicians, being normal people who can have a laugh at themselves. It’s a high bar we should all aspire to.