TV Eye: Reality bites in our backyard

New Zealand's scenery is getting lots of airtime in this season of ANTM. Photo / Supplied

Reality TV is as subtle as a fart in a lift. Particularly when the MasterChef contestants are forced to buy zucchinis from a certain supermarket.

Or when a pseudo-Aussie shepherd tells the America's Next Top Model contestants they're off to New Zealand. Where he comes from, apparently.

Four is halfway through screening the four episodes of ANTM filmed in Godzone (Tuesdays, 7.30pm). Thankfully the countryside is getting more airtime than the beauty products the show usually touts.

This is fortunate because Jessica thought New Zealand was near Canada, a confession that came before she almost burned down the girls' penthouse suite cooking tacos on a toaster.

When Tyra and the girls went to Hobbiton near Matamata, Irish music played. Raina, the only sane contestant left, thought she was in an episode of Full House.

"Oh my lanta!" she exclaimed, Joey-style, at the behest of insecure Alex and smug Krista.

The episodes showcased some beautiful scenery during two highly original photo shoots, featuring sheep and Lord of the Rings. Modelling while bungy jumping would have been way better.

Insurance company Vero is also getting some hefty publicity in Great Southern Television's slick new reality series The Claim Game (TV One, Mondays, 8pm), in which cameras follow the teams investigating insurance claims.

The timing of its airing is no doubt gut-wrenchingly relevant to Christchurch residents, who'll be all too familiar with the process. In TV land, it's an exciting world where the claimants are shown to be guilty until proven innocent. It certainly felt that way when the investigation team looked into the suspicious fire that gutted the Maranui Surf Club cafe in Wellington.

If the cafe owners are found to be involved, intoned narrator Tim Balme (who has just finished playing an Almighty Johnson), their claim will be denied.

The moving footage went still, the owners' faces faded to black and white. Dun dun dun. We know from watching crime shows, this means "dodgy". Their claim was eventually approved (the only thing dodgy was the electrical wiring). But shows like this - in the same ilk as Coastwatch - need a little dramatic post-production magic to edit out the tedium. The fire happened in 2009. It took them 34 hours to find the short-circuiting wiring they say led to the disaster. Maybe someone tried to cook tacos on a toaster.

The surf club has since been rebuilt so it must have taken months to find the likes of bumbling Tim, who claimed his expensive appliances and dive gear had been stolen, but had no proof of purchase to back this up. Denied. Then there was SPQR owner Chris, whose claim was approved. He and his wife lost their belongings during the Samoan tsunami, a small price to pay, he conceded. Chris got some product placement for his troubles. Fair enough.

Meanwhile on ANTM, Kiwi designers got a decent plug during the initial model go-sees, while phonetically putting us on the map. There was "Eema Ford" the swimwear designer and Kate Sylvester who could've used subtitles to help the Yanks understand her Koiwoi eccent.

New Zealand got its share of advertising, with ample wide shots of our vineyards, mountains and Auckland's skyline; the girls had a "double rainbow" moment while admiring the view.

Much of the second New Zealand episode was shot at the gorgeous Brick Bay vineyard in Matakana.

Not surprisingly, US travel agents are now touting America's Next Top Model New Zealand tour packages. Shepherds not included.

-TimeOut