Seven Sharp, of course, is a modern sort of current affairs show. In-depth and serious is out and short, snappy, viewer-inactive, bright and breezy and poll-driven is in.
There had been talk that Seven Sharp might feature as many as eight items in its half hour, but tonight it was hard to tell which pieces were actually items, which were banter and which were wobbly bits in between.
To be honest, it was easy to tell which were the wobbly bits in between and there were quite a few of them.
The show even started with some wobbly bits as the hosts indulged in some ill-judged banter about who might replace Titewhai Harawira to hold the PM's hand at Waitangi tomorrow.
Then, bizarrely we were off for a beginner's guide to Parliament with reporter Heather Du Plessis-Alan before we went back to the studio for a semi-funny backgrounder from Mulligan on today's David Shearer selection.
By the end of the first segment, Mulligan, in fact, seemed to be in charge.
After the break, more nonsense about Titewhai, and then a sudden old-fashioned field report about a soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder. It felt out of place and Boyed's clumsy attempts afterwards to tie it to public awareness didn't much help.
Then more awkward banter and a pre-recorded satellite interview with singer Josh Groban, who's coming this way for concerts, natch. And that, after a bit more banter, was that.
No live interviews (except with each other), no hard-hitting current affairs and, certainly, no easy banter. Seven Sharp can only get better. And it had better and rather quickly.
Because that was a pretty embarrassing start. Though with Mulligan, they may just have a star of some sort in the making. They just might have to eventually ditch the straight people sitting next to him.
That is, if TVNZ wants this sort of show.
