Holmes signs off - 'for now'

No one can deny Paul Holmes went to the dogs on his last night on Prime. A schnauzer named Otto, to be precise.

In the swansong of his Holmes show, the host set out with a resolute "don't mention the war" demeanour, his jaunty red tie belying any sadness.

With Otto, he boldly went on the attack against pending rules that National Party politicians claimed would require dog owners to wash out their dog bowls daily.

He moved onto a buddy group for boys without fathers, and a story about a new toy - a cross between a mountain bike and a motorbike.

Meanwhile on TV3, new kid on the block John Campbell had the big interview of the day with David Lange.

Holmes waited for the final 10 minutes to let the show slide into a farewell, with a montage of highlights.

He returned to his first show, planting a pohutukawa on One Tree Hill. "It may last a day. It may last 100 years," Holmes said grandly. His first guess was closer. Council staff removed it soon afterwards.

So it was for Holmes' show. And when he signed off, the big softy in Holmes came out in his thanks to former colleagues for their messages of support, and to his current staff.

The tears welled up and there was even a hint of forgiveness for TVNZ, whose bosses he had accused of presiding over one of the "major commercial cock-ups" of its time in letting him go.

He screened part of his interview with US singer Cher in which she asked why he left TVNZ. "They sucked?" she asked, and Paul agreed that yes, they did indeed suck.

Last night, he conceded, "They didn't really. Not totally".

Text messages running across the screen during the show revealed "Shannon loves you", "We blondes love you" and "Your [sic] the man".

One suggested he record another CD. To prove they weren't totally devoid of self-deprecation, one "Ur a hasbeen" was allowed through.

"So we had a big, sad day," Holmes ended, "but over the months we gave it an honest try."

Then, for the second time in a year - first at TVNZ and now at Prime - Holmes had to farewell his audience, until his next reincarnation.

"So thank you for watching. That is Holmes. For now."