The list of local current affairs shows named for their host is a short one: Holmes, Campbell Live, Fraser and The Ralston Group. Now Patrick Gower is joining the club – arguably he had already qualified with his hit Patrick Gower On … documentaries – with a weekly prime-time show.
It’s called Paddy Gower Has Issues, and despite the name, it isn’t all about him. The change to “Paddy” is a deliberate tweak by the marketing department at Three, where the Gower brand is one of the company’s star assets.
As described by its frontman, the hybrid show sounds like an ambitious effort to marry journalistic depth with comedic irreverence; mainstream media reporting with social media savvy; investigations into big, worthy, important issues with, well, Karen O’Leary, formerly of Wellington Paranormal, investigating smaller stuff.
Gower is okay with his Paddy-fication, he says between rehearsals, sounding slightly harried and nervous about taking on a new, unproven format. And doing it weekly, which will include the run-up to the election.
“It does keep me awake at night, just knowing that we’re literally spending weeks on the first one, and then there’s another one straight after.”
Originally, the plan was for something aimed at the channel’s underwhelming streaming platform, ThreeNow. Three bosses searched for a format to buy and adapt, as had been done with the Australian-originated The Project. But there wasn’t one, says Gower, even among the vast empire of Three’s owners, Warner Bros Discovery.
The idea evolved. Former 7 Days and The Project producer Jon Bridges was brought in. Gower was asked if he’d like to be the name on the door and O’Leary was recruited, with comedians Eli Matthewson and Courtney Dawson as further light relief.
It’s now a broadcast show that, Gower says, is designed to also work as a streaming programme, with the issues it will tackle having a shelf life beyond the daily news cycle. He laughs when he says he’s had difficulty describing it to his Newshub colleagues, including the senior reporters who will cover the weekly big-issue main story.
“When you get some of these journos in, the Michael Morrahs of this world, and tell them what the show is going to look like, you see a quizzical look over their face.”
When the Listener suggests it sounds a lot like The Problem with Jon Stewart on Apple TV+ Gower concedes the show has been an influence, as have some US late-night formats where the host is in front of a studio audience. And, if it’s Newshub nous meeting 7 Days’ wit, how does it not feel like a long-form The Project?
“What differentiates it from The Project is these are big, deep dives into big issues … you will not see a deep dive into literacy on The Project. You will not see a deep dive into forestry on The Project. It’s not The Project part two, but there’s lots of stuff we’ve learnt on The Project that we’re able to bring to this.”
The show will revive something long relegated to weekend morning TV – “accountability-based studio interviews” when the stories demand them.
Gower agrees PGHI won’t be able to match his docos (two more are in the works) for depth. “But that doesn’t mean that we can’t go way further than the 6pm news, or what people see on websites. We’re looking at a gap on Three between the news and the documentaries, and we know we haven’t been doing long-form journalism. We know that people have been watching the docos. We know there’s an audience there.”
While comedians have had regular segments on Seven Sharp and The Project, Gower says O’Leary’s light-hearted pieces include “some pretty decent investigations”. Though nothing paranormal, yet.
“The [rehearsal] audience’s eyes light up when they see Karen. Our social media people’s eyes light up, the bosses all sort of nod like it’s a fantastic idea to get her in. I’ve just got to watch that it doesn’t become Karen O’Leary Has Issues in the second season.”
PADDY GOWER HAS ISSUES, Three, Wednesday, May 24, 7.30pm; ThreeNow.
