Television: Peters laps up free publicity

By Bevan Rapson

You could understand the broad grin Winston Peters wore through most of his appearance on TV3's Time of Your Life last night.

Any politician would smile at the prospect of prime-time television exposure in election year - especially when it comes without any of those nitpicking journalists and their dopey questions.

This show, of course, is pure picturesque puffery and advertising, and gave Peters the chance to accompany host Petra Bagust on a tour of the attractions of his Tauranga electorate.

The information department of North Korea would have been proud to have depicted Kim Il Sung in such style.

See Winston steer a four-wheel drive through rugged terrain; witness him enjoying the view from a favoured seaside restaurant; watch him sink a putt on the local golf course. (The North Koreans, of course, would have claimed that he had just set a course record.)

Admittedly, the introduction had labelled him the city's "most infamous" resident but the former Treasurer could otherwise just bask in the unthreatening attention and respond to questions along the lines of "Why is Tauranga your kind of town?"

Such questions would have induced envious drooling on the part of any of the 59 other electorate MPs who might have been watching.

Peters is not actually a holiday-show kind of guy.

After reeling off a list of glorious attractions he had to concede that he didn't actually fit in all that much diving, yachting or lying on the beach although he could "still dream about it when I'm in my office in Wellington."

And while he was at times pictured in more casual attire, you couldn't help get the feeling that he couldn't wait to rip it all off and climb back into a nice comfortable collar, tie and double-breasted pinstripe.

The rest of the show - the first of a new series - maintained the limp standard of past programmes, offering barely a dribble of worthwhile entertainment or information to justify the buckets of promotion and advertising.

Matthew Ridge and Marc Ellis went painfully through the motions of their trademark "banter" during the links while Brent Todd again revealed the extent of his small-screen talent in a visit to the Warbirds over Wanaka airshow.

On discovering an interview subject was from across the Tasman, Toddy was in, quick as a flash: "I won't hold it against you, mate, that you're from Australia." Talk about ad-lib, mate.

Another segment had a bluffers' guide to tennis which was another example of padding masquerading as information.

How does Bagust, one of the entertaining team on Ice TV, bring herself to deliver such lame material? Her pathetic pretend paddy in the style of John McEnroe was a special low.

If they wanted some strong feelings to spice up their show they might have just asked some of the New Zealand First leader's opponents what they thought about him getting all that free publicity ...