By LOUISA CLEAVE
Jeremy "Newsboy" Wells steps out on his own in a new show tonight - and immediately wipes out.
Wells, best known as Mikey Havoc's sidekick, takes a spectacular crash on the ski slopes at Queenstown in the first episodes of Shred (TV2, 10.30 pm).
But the wipe-out should probably not be taken as a sign of things to come on the show.
It has been made under the direction of Ice As mastermind Paul Casserly, on loan from the TV3 late-night youth television show, and aims to entertain viewers in the warmth of their living rooms throughout the ski season.
Shred co-stars former Nightline reporter Bernadine Lim and introduces a new television star - A Fish Called Ralston.
The singing fish interacts with the hosts and helps to link segments. It all sounds a bit strange but this is late night TV.
Executive producer Philip Smith says the ski season and winter resorts form the backdrop for the programme with the people, events and culture offering the front-of-house entertainment.
The first four episodes were filmed in Queenstown, which the crew lovingly refer to as the "Ibiza of the South" and "Parnell in the snow," but the programme will also cover the middle North Island fields of Turoa and Whakapapa.
Tonight sees News taking part in the Queenstown Winter Festival's celebrity ski race.
His wipe-out, he claims, happened when he was cut off by "big, tall, un-co[ordinated] Oliver Driver."
It made for excellent footage but Wells lost his sunglasses to the mountain forever.
Casserly takes the tabloid magazine approach to celebrities - showing well-known faces, such as America's Cup skipper Dean Barker, for no reason other than that they are famous.
The series will also feature stunts such as News going undercover to try on the different jumpers on offer in souvenir shops.
The flippant frontman, stepping out for the first time from the shadow of Havoc, gives his own interpretation of the show: "I wouldn't call it offbeat. It's a magazine show, similar to that one in the morning - Marae, but without the Maori."
Despite claims that they dislike each other, Lim and Wells end up in bed together at the end of tonight's first episode.
But then, fooling around is what they do best.
TV: Snow show wipes slopes with one Newsboy Wells
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