Wednesday 30 June 2010

RNZ COMING RIGHT?

Something is happening over at RNZ. Now its sad that Sean Plunket has signalled his stage exit left. ( wow he has his own Wiki page)

Anyway, ever since he announced he was leaving, the show has picked up the pace. The last few weeks have been vintage Plunket. but its not just him who has changed. There is a new rhythm to the show. And it is really working over the big stories - coming at them from all angles and its taking no prisoners. The Te Kau Maori export funding debacle and the Prison Smoking stories were really well handled.

Are we, on the eve of the country's best interviewer departure finally seeing some real value for the taxpayers dollar?

We hope so.

So who are our picks in the race to take over from Plunket?

Hmm
Mary Wilson - no light and dark - just hiss.
Julian Roberts - worth a trial
Noelle McCarthy - fun but lacking the intellectual grunt.
Kathryn Ryan - Not enough balls to roger repeat offenders
Todd Nyall - all light, no dark no hiss.
Shane Taurima - He'd be a maiden run but the boys got the moves.
Marcus Lush Too quirky
Finlay McDonald? - he only interviews himself.
Wallace Chapman - great but too irreverent.

Hard shoes to fill.. But we hope, for the sake of slaking our early morning thirst for good news and info, that RNZ has a succession plan..



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a broad bean loving spud-hater, I'd place my vote for Wallace Chapman. He'd be just what's needed to get fringe listeners to tune back in. All two of us.

"Too irreverent..."? how delightfully white middle-class! Is he a bit too "wierd" is he? Bit, "odd-ball"? Bit too... "fruity"?

So who would be a good compromise? hmmm. How about Kathryn Ryan, then? Not enough balls, in the beginning, but later, once she'd been savaged by passing political bullies, she might undergo a rapid and entertainingly aggresive transformation. Nothing like a nice girl too long alone in the dog cage for entertainment. And before that happens, we'd get someone who let the interviewee speak instead of telling them what they think.

Anonymous said...

One stand out choice only - Mary Wilson. The hiss you hear is from the lips of victims as she nails them to the wall, which is what every good interviewer should do. Helps you pick their pockets for top secret documents.

Shane Taurima gets an honourable mention as backup - anyone with principle enough to ditch a higher profile job over mistreatment of his coworkers deserves another shot. And you know he won't be bought ;)

Kath Ryan is too nice - which is great - for the format she does. Valuable job, why shift her? Which does rather beg the question of who would replace Wilson at 5pm... (wildcard selection - Tim Selwyn...hoho)