Scott Kara: Scenery helps next top telly

I'm sure the girls of New Zealand's Next Top Model are lovely. And I can't say I noticed Kahlan's heaving bosom as she was chased by soldiers in the dramatic opening scene of Prime's new sword-wielding fantasy series Legend of the Seeker this week.

I don't know about you, but I was too distracted by the sparkling vistas of the mighty Hauraki Gulf to care about Teryl-Leigh's alluring sulkiness, or Christobelle's obvious natural talent as a model. And American actress and Legend of the Seeker star Bridget Regan doesn't come close to the beauty of the snow-capped peaks of the Southern Alps.

Okay, so there is no doubt Regan and her chiselled co-star, Australian actor Craig Horner as Richard Cypher, make for fetching TV, as do the shy and unassuming Rhiannon and the lippy and tortured Ajoh. And NZNTM judge and girl's guide, Colin Mathura-Jeffree, with his ever-changing appearance (at the judges' table last week he looked like an electrocuted Doug Howlett), is golden talent.

However, what these two very different shows have in common are top-notch production values.

Of course Legend is going to look good since it's a big-budget American series and harks back to the days when large scale productions like Xena and Hercules were based in New Zealand.

Legend looks hot and it doesn't matter if it's Kahlan standing naked in front of a waterfall as pervy Richard secretly looks on, an action-packed showdown in the woods of West Auckland or a spectacular swooping shot over a valley down south.

The only dull moments of this week's episode were the snore-inducing dialogue between Zeddicus and one of his wizard mates. Incidentally, Zed is played by Bruce Spence, who is perhaps best known as loony tune Jedediah the Pilot from the Mad Max movies. A little more of that old craziness wouldn't go amiss, Bruce.

Meanwhile, TV3's local model search show, which is run on a far slimmer budget than Legend as you can imagine, maintains a top quality look thanks to our natural scenery and cheeky, cunning, and entertaining editing.

Still, the girls have to take much of the credit too. They are all good lookers but the judges have also found some ripe TV talent, like when Ajoh drops the line "is it because I'm black?" and storms out in tears, or the obsessive but somehow sweet Hosanna talks about practising her walk in bed. Or was that in her sleep?

The behind-the-scenes people in post-production must have a hoot in their editing suites - hell, they'd be cracking into the bubbly - as they cut and paste the girls' exploits from throughout the week.

Like many others, I never gave NZNTM a chance, especially considering the lack of style in other local reality talent shows like Stars In Their Eyes, and sometimes, Dancing With The Stars.

I also feared NZNTM - and Legend for that matter - might have blown the budget to make the first episodes look good. I was proven wrong on both counts. Both are new takes on tried and true formulas, Legend being from the makers of Xena and Hercules, and NZNTM a carbon copy of Tyra's franchise.

However, judging by the Australian version of the latter (I haven't seen the British one but apparently it's awful), the Kiwis have nailed it. The stylish look and bitchy fashion spirit of the show stacks up well alongside Heidi Klum's mega-budget series Project Runway, TV3's other Friday night fashion extravaganza.

So what's next then? New Zealand's Next Top Frodo perhaps?