Guy Williams

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 Hart was holding a rugby ball. I loved it.

Normally the segment featured a ‘‘special guest’’, aka a washed-up Auckland-based rugby player looking confused (emphasis on ‘‘Aucklandbased’’, there’s no way they’re flying someone in for this), 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 Prime Minister-in-waiting after appearing on a show like that. I thought it reeked of desperation.

Just over a year later, Key was Prime Minister! 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.