My New Favorite Show

We have forgone television for the last 3 or so years in L.A. It was nice not being in the constant grip of the T.V. and everything that goes with it in daily life. I'd become so sick of the morning after workplace conversations about Idol, Lost, Greys and the like that it was a wonderful relief to just respond "We don't have T.V."

We had kept the DVD and the television itself, just cut our cable subscription and never bothered to invest in an antenna. Netflix and having an phenomenal independent video store a short walk from the apartment in L.A. made it easy to be entertained and yet free of the constant commercialism and culturally-devoid mind-sapping dullness.

So now we are here in Aotearoa, living the good life, raising our kid, and watching T.V. There are far fewer channels here, and very little that is actually compelling or worth making a date with oneself to watch. Well, that is what I thought.

Maori Television is a relatively new venture (well, it is new to me, the twenty year absentee). It has been a great way to play Sociologist and have a look at how the minority communities are representing themselves on the tube. There are programs to help learn Te Reo - the language - and others to look at news and current events from the Maori perspective. And then there is Marae D.I.Y..

I have always been partial to home improvement shows, and this takes that concept and applies it to different Marae across Aotearoa. The crew are smart, funny, and really seem to love what they are doing. The recipients are small, rundown, and oft times dilapidated Marae that are given a makeover to make anything on the House and Garden channel take notice.

The crew arrive and whisk the Kuia away so that the marae whanau can work their magic. I love watching the little old ladies relaxing at the spa, having their hair done, and being treated like royalty. People come from far and wide to help with the projects which transform the forlorn looking little buildings into beautiful, proud, mana filled, places of community gathering. Walls are painted, fences are built, gardens planted.

I find myself welling up as the final reveal is made. The Kuia, dressed to the nines with quoffed hair and sparkling eyes are welcomed on to the Marae with all the ceremony and required ritual. They stand together with the presenters listening to the songs and orations of welcome with such obvious pride and emotion. It is something amazing to watch. The whanau are so proud of their accomplishment and filled with an obvious sense of having done something incredibly important and worthwhile. They know that they reach not only back to their ancestors but forward to their mokopuna.

So, Sunday afternoons are more often than not finding me making a date to be on the couch from 3 'til 4 tuned in to something that I think is really special. If you can, I really suggest you do, too.