COMMENT: While Winston Peters was preparing to finally reveal his party's coalition partner on October 19 last year, reporters desperately sought clues as to what that decision would be.
At around 5.45pm that day, one journalist reported hearing clapping coming from Labour's offices. Was that the moment Jacinda Ardern andher team learned they were about to form a new government, we wondered?
No. No, it was not.
A press secretary later clarified that the clapping had actually been for an episode of Family Feud they were watching as they waited to hear what Peters had to say.
Perennially popular Family Feud always was good for mindlessly filling a gap while you waited for something – be it waiting for dinner, waiting for the news, or waiting for the leader of New Zealand First to make up his mind.
Hosted by the bow-tie-bedecked Dai Henwood with his enthusiastic jazz hands and karate kicks, it wasn't exactly appointment viewing each day, but it was an addictive watch if you did happen to flick it on.
However, it obviously wasn't successful enough for Three to keep around, with the network very quietly cancelling it at the end of 2017, citing Henwood's move to host another Dancing With The Stars reboot as their reason for doing so.
They did soften the blow at the time, saying there would be several "All Star" celebrity editions of the show made this year, two of which have been airing this month.
Given that drip-feeding of these celebrity specials over the past 12 months, I foolishly assumed the door was being left open for Family Feud to one day return to our screens. Alas, that's not the case. Three has confirmed there are no current plans to bring the show, in either its regular or All Star forms, back in 2019.
And watching last week's delightful All Star edition, Funny Girls vs Funny Guys, reiterated what a shame that is.
Never again will we get to hear New Zealanders' answers to random survey questions, such as what items Donald Trump might keep in his bedside table or what a chicken has nightmares about. Nor will we get to play along and voice our own guesses about these ridiculous life mysteries.
Dai Henwood has been at the heart of Family Feud's success.
We won't get to snicker at what initially seems a silly answer to a question (such as naming Auckland as a capital city) and then realise it's actually a stroke of genius, because 10 survey respondents said the same stupid thing.
We won't get to giggle at the answers that come out of contestants' mouths when they're put under time pressure in the final "Fast Money" round of each episode.
And we won't get to enjoy the immediate rapport Henwood seemed able to build with all of Family Feud's contestants, celebrity or otherwise.
As Funny Girls team captain Madeleine Sami told Henwood in last week's special, "I often think of you as my little big kitten mate", and she's not alone.
Henwood is everyone's little big kitten mate on Family Feud – which is to say he's furry, playful, enthusiastic and adorable. Or as adorable as a 40-year-old man can be, anyway. There's no way the show would have lasted as long as it did without him.
Perhaps if we all ask Santa nicely, he might gift wrap another season of Family Feud or a few of its All Star specials to pop under the tree for enjoying next year.
And just imagine finding Henwood under the Christmas tree! Although you would have to hope it was the Family Feud edition, rather than the 7 Days model. 7 Days Henwood would likely drink all your sherry, confuse your guests with a rambling story, and drunkenly knock over your tree.
But given that unlikelihood on Christmas Day, Family Feud fans will instead have to settle for getting their feud on one last time in tomorrow night's All Star episode, which pits North (Paddy Gower, Amber Peebles, James Rolleston and Tami Neilson) versus South (Jason Gunn, Bob Parker, and MAFS NZ couple, Brett and Angel Renall).
Let's just hope Henwood and his final crop of celebrity contestants can give this silly, gaudy, giddy show the silly, gaudy and giddily enthusiastic send-off it deserves.
• All Star Family Feud: North Vs South airs Thursday at 7.30pm on Three.
