50 Years of New Zealand Television: 3 - Let Us Entertain You

Television (Full Length Episode) – 2010

This edition of Prime TV’s history of New Zealand television looks at 50 years of entertainment. The smorgasbord of music, comedy and variety shows ranges from 60s pop stars to Popstars, from the anarchy of Blerta to the anarchy of Telethon, from Radio with Pictures to Dancing with the Stars. Music television moves from C’mon and country, to punk and hip hop videos. Comedy follows the formative Fred Dagg and Billy T, through to Eating Media Lunch and 7 Days. A roll call of New Zealand entertainers muse on seeing Kiwis laugh, sing and shimmy on the small screen.

Everybody saw you on TV and that's why all of a sudden you became an instant hit in New Zealand. You could tour, and you couldn't walk down the street without being mobbed...
– Dinah Lee on the impact of television on pop success in the 1960s