Cracker by Damian Christie

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Cracker: It's a Wonderful Thing

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  • Jackie Clark,

    I look forward to watching this online, Damian. And as for the archives, when my Dad died, someone we knew who worked for TVNZ at the time, and who shall remain nameless, may or may not have got us a whole lot of footage of my Dad over the years, which my brother then compiled into a DVD to show at the funeral. The material contained within is very precious to us, and I recognise how very lucky we are to have it.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    So that’s Hindsight. My little baby.

    Yay! have been looking for it since the little birdy I know, passed it on to me that you were about to launch and I am so glad you have brought this to light as I am having a night in and will enjoy to be sure! Good stuff Damian :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • Damian Christie,

    Thanks guys!

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1164 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso,

    Oh... this is very relevant to my interests!

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    I really (no, really) hope I'm not in the Jazzercise footage :)

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • Martin Lindberg,

    Now I really need to buy a new suit. Thanks a lot Damian!

    Stockholm • Since Jul 2009 • 802 posts Report

  • Stephen Judd,

    I'm really looking forward to having a good watch. Nice one!

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 3122 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    I’m really looking forward to having a good watch.

    I've always wanted one too. ;)
    I'll get my coat.....

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • Hilary Stace,

    That was my kind of programme. Thanks Damian.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report

  • Pete Sime,

    This looks really good. I've watched quite a bit of material on NZ On Screen in recent months, it'd be cool to see more archival material.

    Dunedin • Since Apr 2008 • 171 posts Report

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    The first episode is online. It's good - it's not just a "Look at all the funny old things! The past is a foreign place! Lolz!!!" There's reflection on today, and the sinking realisation that maybe things aren't actually going to get better. Go and watch it now.

    Highlights:

    - The '80s-era frumpy obese housewife shuffling around the supermarket smoking a cigarette. Smoking in a supermarket! In the 1980s!
    - The men's jogging club, who look exactly like the sort of men you see in jogging clubs today, complete with sideburns.
    - If medical professionals have been speaking out for decades about the problem with kids eating junk food, why did National scrap the no-junk-food-in-schools policy? Dicks.
    - The members of the Te Atatu Weight Watchers who gained weight being forced to sing: "I am big and fat and love my food. Oh, what a pig I am!" [WTF!]
    - The reminder that potato chips used to be called "chippies". I still hear older people use that term from time to time.
    - Sometimes when you see those headless shots to illustrate the obesity epidemic, it's actually just people wearing ill-fitting clothes.
    - I want a pie.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report

  • Damian Christie,

    Thanks Robyn - glad you enjoyed it.

    FYI, there is also, but kinda hidden (I'll have a word) the full version of that archive piece (including many more verses of the piggy song) now online:

    http://tvnz.co.nz/hindsight/s1-e1-extra-video-4042871

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1164 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso, in reply to Robyn Gallagher,

    why did National scrap the no-junk-food-in-schools policy? Dicks.

    It should be pointed out that Labour had never funded it. It was actually a disastrous policy for low-decile schools without money to go with it.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to Damian Christie,

    And there you were sitting on the sun loungers I always wanted, in my old stomping ground.
    Thoroughly enjoyed the Hindsight Damian.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • Mike Hollywood,

    Thoroughly enjoyable show Damian and I look forward to future episodes. I was genuinely gobsmacked by the footage of WW 'piggy song' ... like Robyn says, a real WTF! moment.
    But it was the little nostalgia inducing things that made the programme work for me - just the small stuff like the queue at the school shop in 1976, and recalling my own sense of excitement on that one day a week when I was allowed to buy a pie and donut for lunch. Providing I hadn't spent Mum's hard-earned $1.50 on sweets before I even made it to school.
    Mmmm, I'm thinking long black and sausage roll for morning tea ...

    Since May 2009 • 51 posts Report

  • st ephen,

    Back in about 1984 I was whisked off the street to do a bit of consumer testing of a proposed TV show. They had impressive-looking story boards to flip through to show the concept, which was based on a trawl through the TVNZ archives looking for hilarity (Commuters wearing hats! Newsreaders in flares! Peter Sinclair!), in a format that borrowed heavily from Not the Nine O'Clock News. In place of edgy UK comedians they were proposing Billy T James.

    I'm glad it was your version that got the go-ahead.

    dunedin • Since Jul 2008 • 254 posts Report

  • Ben Austin,

    I don't see that this has been uploaded to Youtube yet. Are there any plans to do so, or are there any other legit international viewing options? TVNZ usually blocks this kind of thing for overseas views, sadly

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report

  • Anonymous Author,

    Outstanding. The footage that showed weight-watching women receiving trophy pigs as anti-reward for people-porkiness in Te Atatu – as they sang a joyous ode to the perils of food and fatness to the tune of Glory Glory – suggests the future doesn't have a chance against the past.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2010 • 64 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso,

    Show gets replayed at 1.30pm, for those who might be interested in repeat slots.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Andre Alessi,

    We did Jazzercise at Mayfair Primary School, but we did it to Pseudo Echo's Funky Town.

    I don't think our teachers really understood the concept.

    Devonport, New Zealand • Since Nov 2006 • 864 posts Report

  • Sofie Bribiesca,

    I am guessing but I think the jazzercise that was aired on the programme was Les Mills. All too familiar, and it was the place that sort of kick started the concept in NZ. I had a suitcase of 45's given to me from them back in the day and there were some gems amongst them. Passed on for mixing later on.

    here and there. • Since Nov 2007 • 6796 posts Report

  • Hilary Stace, in reply to giovanni tiso,

    As far as I remember it only impacted on what the school could routinely sell on its premises, and never stoppped kids selling chocolate or sausages for fundraisers, so why did that affect your school? It gave the secondary school I was involved with the ability to finally get out of its octopus-grip contract with Coca Cola. The school canteen had a bit of transition time but did manage to come up with healthier cheap and popular options. Staff did report a noticeable difference in behaviour. Many students still went to the dairy down the road for pies etc, but at least they had to walk to get there. A senior student initiative wanted the school to go further and be GM and GE free, but that didn't quite happen.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report

  • giovanni tiso, in reply to Hilary Stace,

    As far as I remember it only impacted on what the school could routinely sell on its premises, and never stoppped kids selling chocolate or sausages for fundraisers, so why did that affect your school?

    Our canteen couldn't afford to routinely sell healthy food, which is a lot more expensive and perishable. By neat coincidence, our pupils couldn't afford to buy it either. Maybe a bigger low-decile school would have fewer problems, I'm not sure. At any rate, there are no excuses for implementing sanctimonious laws without financing them. It's the worst kind of politics.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report

  • Sacha, in reply to giovanni tiso,

    Implementing the 2001 cross-government NZ Disability Strategy with no funding is a classic example. It meant having to persuade departments to shift already-committed funding to something they traditionally haven't supported (with no funding for the persuasion effort or even a broader campaign to underpin it), or beg for each extra initiative slowly and torturously against all the usual resistance to change. It's a wonder progress was made at all, really.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Alan Macdougall,

    And was that a very dapper young Geoff Robinson in those earlier segments?

    Since Nov 2006 • 24 posts Report

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