TV pick: Jono and Ben celebrate TV3's half century

Jono and Ben.

It's TV3's silver anniversary this month. Though having gone through two receiverships in its short life, there may well be a distinct lack of silver.

It does seem the channel isn't taking the event too seriously.

If it was, there would probably be a show entitled Paul Henry: TV3, its part in my ongoing brilliance. But no, there is a show hosted by the team from Jono and Ben at Ten.

It's an hour-long special at the family-friendly hour of 7.30pm tomorrow night. The show, also featuring regular sidekicks Rose Matafeo and Guy Williams will be dragging in famous faces from TV3's past and present, plus fun clips.

"It'll be great to finally host a party that people will turn up to," says Ben Boyce, "The TV3 25th birthday is a special day because it also coincides with Mark Richardson's 91st birthday."

If that irreverence whets the appetite for more TV3 nostalgia, then head over to nzonscreen.com.

There the square-eyed team behind the television archive have curated a TV3 25th Collection of local productions.

The 20-strong greatest hits includes early episodes of Outrageous Fortune, Almighty Johnsons, Cover Story, Blue Rose, The Jaquie Brown Diaries, Ice TV, bro'Town, 7 Days, Pulp Comedy, Skitz, the legendarily awful sitcom Melody Rules, the short-lived young Karl Urban-starring local soap Homeward Bound, The Strip, and John Campbell's infamous 2002 "Corngate" interview with then-Prime Minister Helen Clark.

There's plenty of proof within that, even if tomorrow night's show isn't its finest hour, TV3 has done much more to make New Zealand laugh in the past 25 years than its state-owned rival. Even before Henry blessed the place with his presence.

Jono and Ben celebrate TV3's half century
When: Friday, 7.30pm
Where: TV3
What: Looking back at 25 years on NZ screens

- TimeOut