Power of 10 new game show on TV3

“Power of 10 is going to be the biggest-money game show in the history of television, and I really hope someone wins the US$10 million.” – Drew Carey.

This week 3 proudly premieres one of the most exciting new game shows since Deal or No Deal; Power of 10 premieres Wednesday, August 13th at 7:30 on TV3.

Power of 10 Host Drew Carey

Hosted by Drew Carey (Whose Line is it Anyway?, The Drew Carey Show), Power of 10 reaches out all across America to poll thousands of people and ask them just about everything, yielding questions like “What percentage of Americans said they were virgins the day they got married?” and “How many Americans believe they are smarter than the president?”

Each week, contestants find out whether they have their finger on the pulse of the people and can accurately predict the results of the nationwide surveys. With the first question worth $1,000 and only five questions to answer, each one increasing 10 times in value, the contestant who has the best take on the American mind-set could walk away with a $10 million payday!

This concept proved interesting enough for Carey to return to television with another game show after swearing off them after Whose Line is it Anyway?

“I would have been quite happy to never, ever be on another TV game show,” Carey says, “but this sounded so interesting to me, I said I’d do it. It was a big thing that [Who Wants to be a Millionaire? executive producer] Michael Davies was doing it, and I think people who watch it will rethink what they believe America believes.”

Carey also said that since he does not know the answers to the questions, he gets to “play along with the contestants,” for whom he has often has much empathy.

“I feel for people when they play the game. I want them to win, and I want to help them make the right decision. I guess that shows through,” he says.

“You don’t want to cheat anyone out of their opportunity to make money, but if somebody’s making a guess that’s so far off, you kind of have to go, ‘Whoa! Don’t blow it!’

And with US$10 million on the line it’s certainly easy to lose your nerve and “blow it”. Let’s hope our first bunch of contestants won’t have that problem when Power of 10 premieres on Wednesday, August 13th at 7:30 on TV3.

The 200kg Kid documentary

At almost 200kg, 15-year-old Haumoana Kopua is believed to be New Zealand’s heaviest teenager. He is already showing early signs of serious diseases, but his family have embarked on countless failed diet and exercise regimes and they feel as though they are out of options. Could surgery be the answer? Inside New Zealand: The 200kg Kid finds out on Thursday, August 7th at 9:30pm on 3.

At 14-years-old, Haumoana hit 190kg. Now too big to exercise, he is unable to bend over to pick up a ball, and even walking is difficult. His family fear he could be bedridden within a decade and Haumoana’s, surgeon Dr. Rob Fris believes “medical intervention is his only chance at a normal life.”

Gastric banding has never been performed on someone as young as Haumoana in New Zealand. He could lose up to 100kg and be half his size, but only if he’s prepared to make big changes.

Only five teenagers in the last five years have been funded for obesity surgery by the Ministry of Health due to very limited public funding. However Haumoana’s family need to raise $15,000 for the operation to happen privately otherwise he could be on the waiting list for years.

Surgery for the morbidly obese is considered an extreme intervention by the MoH, but Dr Fris believes that in the long run they save the system money. Obesity related costs to the health system are between $450 million and $500 million per year, making the cost of an operation seem comparatively small. As Dr Fris advocates, “It’s not a cosmetic operation. It’s an operation to save lives.”

Inside New Zealand: The 200kg Kid learns the fate of Haumoana on Thursday, August 7th at 9:30pm on 3.

Documentary follows dwarf in his aim to find love

Inside New Zealand: A Little Love Story, screening Thursday, July 31st at 9:30pm on TV3, is the unique New Zealand story of Matthew, a dwarf from Auckland who travels to the USA with the aim to find true love at the worlds’ largest gathering of Little People.

At 4 foot 5, Matthew is at the top end of dwarfism with the most common form of dwarfism, Acondraplasia. He has no distinguishing facial features and is fit and strong. He’s a typical kiwi guy who enjoys sport, going to pubs, dancing and hanging out with his friends, both average size and little.

Travelling to America in search of that special someone was something Matthew didn’t take lightly and every so often he found the process challenging.

“At times being followed all the time was hard. On several occasions I made sure that I lost the film crew so I could have personal time with some really nice women,” he says.

Matthew has made a great life for himself in Auckland. He has a job he loves at a cactus nursery, is a record-breaking bodybuilder and has his own apartment in the central city. All that’s missing for Mathew is a partner or better still a wife. Most of his girlfriends have been average sized women, but now he is in his 30s he is keen to settle down, preferably with someone who’s also a Little Person.

Matthew found he learnt a lot about himself while filming the documentary.

“Everyone at the conference called me a conference virgin. Your first LPA conference knocks all new Little People over. I loved being one of the taller LP’s there. I wished I could have relaxed more too,” he says.

“It was hard sometimes to relax when you had a documentary crew with you. Next time I go to the conference I need to meet more people. I wished I had better time management. The eight day conference goes by really quickly.”

With only around 150 Little People in New Zealand the chances of finding a partner your own age with similar interests is remote. Matthew, like many other Little People only met his first Little Person in his mid 20’s; however the search for a partner means he must look further a field.

As one of the 1500 delegates attending, can he spark a connection with that special someone? This is his story. Find out more in Inside New Zealand: A Little Love Story, screening Thursday, July 31 at 9.30pm on TV3.

Australian comedy series The Librarians to appear on TV3

A humble suburban library takes on a whole new meaning in TV3’s brand new comedy satire, The Librarians, premiering Friday, July 25th at 10pm on TV3.

The series centres on the trials and tribulations of Frances O’Brien (Robyn Butler), a devout Catholic and head librarian at the Middleton Interactive Learning Centre.

Frances’ life unravels when she is forced to employ her ex-best friend, Christine Grimwood (Roz Hammond) – now facing criminal charges – as the Children’s Librarian. Suddenly long buried feelings that Frances has suppressed since she last saw Christine 19 years ago rush at her like a truck. She must do all she can to contain her menacing past and concentrate on the biggest event of the Library calendar year – Book Week.

The brainchild of actors/writers Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope – who are married in real life – the show revolves around the fictional Middleton Interactive Learning Centre and the cross-section of society which inhabits it.

According to The Librarians co-producer and director Wayne Hope, the public library is one of the few remaining free spaces in our communities.

“It’s one of the last places you can go to now where you get heating or cooling and a copy of the newspaper for nothing, so naturally it attracts every freak under the sun,” Hope says. “Whatever walk of life they’re from, they’re all in there on a level pegging.”

While the idea for the show initially came from Butler, the library setting was inspired by Hope’s regular visits to the St Kilda Public Library in Melbourne.

“We were going there with our young daughter a lot for story time, which is basically an hour of relief for very anxious young parents,” he says. “It jumped out at us, ‘gee there’s a lot of very interesting people here’.”

“In our local area we’re right among the Jewish community of Balaclava, there’s housing commission homes, the gentrified portion of St Kilda, plus the constant stream of druggies there for a bit of a nap, so there is this great cross-section of people.”

The cross-section of characters who work at the Middleton Interactive Learning Centre library is similarly broad, there’s the mail thief serving community service (Bob Franklin), a paraplegic (Heidi Arena) and the terrible poet (Stephen Ballantyne).

Hope, who portrays Terry, Frances’s hapless and under-the-thumb husband, says the variety of distinct people at a library make it ripe for comedy material.

“Any place you’re told to be serious and quiet goes against the grain, and induces a response that can be comedy gold,” he says.

And The Librarians is certainly comedy gold. Make sure not to miss the new dark comedy which will make borrowing a book never seem the same again when The Librarians premieres Friday, July 25th at 10pm on TV3.

Sperm Wars on Inside New Zealand

Reproductively speaking, it has been suggested that today’s man is only half the man his grandfather was. Inside New Zealand: Sperm Wars takes a look at some of the myths and truths around sperm on Thursday, July 24th at 9:30pm on TV3.

Does wearing boxers or good old tighty whiteys really make a difference to your sperm count and motility? Does the way you sit and cross your legs affect your swimmers? Is it true that if you work with a laptop on your lap you can become infertile? Studies have implicated various aspects of modern living in putting sperm under threat. Cell phones, laptop computers, junk food, alcohol and prescription drugs have all been discussed in recent studies suggesting that male fertility rates are dropping.

Inside New Zealand: Sperm Wars conducts tests on virile young men to see how they are affected by some of these factors, as well as meeting three couples who desperately want children, but are affected by the man’s fertility.

We meet one couple hoping that a vasectomy reversal will give them the baby they desperately want. Steve’s first marriage resulted in two children, and he thought that his family was complete. Seven years later, he has changed his mind, and wants to extend his family with his second wife, Nicola. But with less than a 50% chance of the operation being a success, will their baby dreams go begging?

We will also meet Wade, a man in his late twenties who is having trouble impregnating his wife Jo because his sperm count is so low he is classed as infertile. Will a naturopath have the answer for him? Can Wade really give up alcohol, cigarettes and junk food and replace them with healthy food and herbal tinctures and tablets? And if he can, will it even make a difference?

Finally, we meet Sam and Alastair, who have known for nearly eight years that Alastair’s motility is the reason they are unable to have children. As it is unlikely that Alastair’s sperm would ever be able to travel the distance to the egg, they have turned to science with ICSI fertilisation. The procedure is pricy, but if it works it will all be worth it. Are Sam and Alastair’s baby dreams about to come true?

Find out when Inside New Zealand: Sperm Wars screens on Thursday, July 24th at 9:30pm on TV3.

Jaquie Brown Diaries new show on TV3

The Jaquie Brown Diaries, screening Friday, July 25th at 9:30pm on TV3, sees former C4 and Campbell Live reporter, Jaquie Brown move into the world of fictional television when she portrays an insecure, status obsessed, light relief reporter on a hard hitting current affairs show.

Each week Jaquie tries different ways to raise her public profile in the media both through her own methods and those of her morally bankrupt publicist Kim Sharee.

As if all this stress wasn’t enough, she also has to deal with a new reporter on the show, the beautiful, funny and multi-talented Serita Singh (Madeleine Sami) whose journalistic style is strikingly similar to Jaquie’s and who seems to be stealing her thunder at an alarming rate.

Although the series takes a satirical look at the life of a C-grade celebrity and brings the society supplements of the newspapers to frightening fruition, according to Jaquie, reality can indeed often be stranger than fiction.

“Many moments in the show have come from my own real life experiences, being recognised by my gynaecologist, interviewing rap stars that hated me and being called Jackie Clarke everywhere I go,” the star explains about her own struggles working in the media industry.

“Of course it’s not all autobiographical, I never punched Santa Claus in the mouth,” she adds.

The series is written and directed by Jaquie’s personal friend and former C4 On-Air Creative, Gerard Johnstone. Though primarily a promo director, Gerard made lots of great no-budget TV specials with Jaquie such as the 2004 Big Day Out documentary and Behind Brown’s Ring: A Lord of the Rings Extravaganza.

So what attracted you to work on The Jaquie Brown Diaries?

“I guess what attracted me to it was the chance to do a parody of things like Sex and the City and Bridget Jones’ Diary where the voice overs are full of wise and witty observations,” Johnstone says.

“Unlike Bridget and Carrie, Jaquie never learns anything from life and has nothing to offer in her internal dialogue besides naive and narcissistic drivel. In this way, I think we are both very similar.”

This week’s series premiere sees our unlikely heroine’s first introduction to her new pretty Fijian-Indian colleague, Serita Singh, with which Jaquie discovers she’s been scoring low with ethnic minorities on screen and tries to do something about it.

Find out how Jaquie deals with this latest setback when the highly anticipated The Jaquie Brown Diaries premieres on Friday, July 25th at 9:30pm on TV3.

Brian Tamaki – Life of Brian documentary

Family man or gay basher? Charmer or manipulator? Man of God or extreme fundamentalist? You be the judge with this behind-the-pulpit look at Bishop Brian Tamaki in Inside New Zealand: The Life of Brian, screening Thursday, July 17th at 9:30pm on TV3.

Filmed over seven months, producer and presenter Ross Jennings negotiates a probing, honest and open look into Tamaki’s private and professional lives. We go inside the head of the Destiny Church’s home, inside his boat, inside his church and yes, even inside his flashy wardrobe.

Jennings puts the tough questions to the controversial Tamaki, and speaks to his disgruntled former finance officer. It is true that members are asked to sign a contract that tells them that by holding back their tithe they are robbing God?

Jennings also asks, how does he pay for his lifestyle? With public showings of parties and lavish vacations, were these paid for by Tamaki personally, or by the church? And is it true that the large donations of “first fruit” that Destiny Church-goers are encouraged to make go directly to Brian?

We will look at the non-financial controversies of Bishop Brian as well. Tamaki has long been outspoken on his views on homosexuality, yet he claims to believe that his is “the most tolerant religion on Earth.” But what would he do if one of his grandchildren were to become gay? Would he reject him or her?

Plus, what are Tamaki’s political aspirations? Does he really believe he can be Prime Minister? And what laws would he change if he were to get into power?

All of these questions are put to the man when Inside New Zealand: The Life of Brian screens on Thursday, July 17th at 9:30pm on TV3.

Insatiable Hunger documentary on Inside New Zealand

New Zealand may have a growing obesity problem, but for these young people, their weight issues really aren’t their fault. They suffer from a disease where their stomachs are unable to tell their brains that they are full, and they always think that they are starving. Inside New Zealand: Insatiable Hunger follows four Kiwi families with children suffering from the devastating effects of Prader-Willi Syndrome on Thursday, July 10th at 9:30pm on TV3.

Despite the obvious shortcomings of a disease that puts sufferers in danger of literally eating themselves to death, PWS is coupled with other cruel side effects. Low muscle tone limiting exercise and a slow metabolism make over-eating even more dangerous, while behavioural problems make life even harder for sufferers’ loved ones, who are already dealing with padlocking food in the cupboard and keeping sufferers out of rubbish bins.

Two Kiwi children a year are diagnosed with this non-inherited lifelong and life-threatening disease. It does not discriminate between race or gender, and it is not known how it is caused. Ironically, the disease which will see these children balloon begins with them having stunted growth, and stunted development.

While PWS has no known cure, regular growth hormone injections have been proven to reduce fat and improve muscle tone, significantly helping with obesity and related complications. Yet although these injections are funded in other countries, Kiwi kids suffering from PWS face an ongoing battle trying to qualify for the treatment in New Zealand. Pharmac, the New Zealand government drug-governing agency, has strict criteria for funding the treatment, which many PWS kids do not fit into.

Inside New Zealand: Insatiable Hunger follows four young people suffering from the disease at different stages of their lives. This includes tiny, doll like 18-month-old Amelia Reid, who only sat up by herself at 14 months of age. Amelia needs to have the growth hormone treatment so that she can at least have a chance at developing normally.

We will also meet three-year-old Cameron O’Reilly, whose parents have been paying upwards of $10,000 per year for him to have the treatment. Cameron has finally nailed the art of walking, and with his growth hormone treatment has now been able to graduate to the big kids section at kindy. However, this may be Cameron’s last year with free access to food and treats, as the insatiable appetite will kick in sometime between now and five years old.

In Northland, 11-year-old Darcy Harris faces being shifted out of the mainstream education system due to his behavioural problems caused by the disorder. Getting caught stealing his classmates’ lunches, and with violent outbursts, he is putting a lot of pressure on the staff at his small rural school.

Finally, Inside New Zealand: Insatiable Hunger talks to 22-year-old Francie Thornton, who is of the old era of PWS sufferers. She is not eligible for the growth hormone treatment, and will be forced out of her sheltered flat if she can’t control her eating – and her temper. She is strictly monitored by minders, and should be on a 1,000 calorie per day diet, but Francie is resourceful…

Inside New Zealand: Insatiable Hunger witnesses these four young people and their families as they struggle with life as PWS sufferers on Thursday, July 10th at 9:30pm on TV3.

Life, Death and a Lung Transplant

Pauli O’Halloran is just the 96th person in New Zealand to have received a lung transplant. Of those 96, only 37 are still alive. His gruelling and heart-wrenching battle is caught on camera by his film-maker wife in the deeply intimate documentary Inside New Zealand: Life, Death and a Lung Transplant, screening on Thursday, July 3rd at 9:30pm on TV3.

At 44 years old, Pauli’s lifelong battle with Cystic Fibrosis made him one of New Zealand’s oldest survivors of CF, living well past the average life expectancy of 31 for a male. In the lead up to his operation, every day was a constant struggle to breathe, and the older he got, the sicker he became. His only hope of survival lay in new lungs.

For those needing an organ transplant, the struggle is a tricky one. Recipients need to get sick enough so that they qualify to get on the active waiting list, while remaining healthy enough to be able to survive the operation.

And a lung transplant especially is not an easy operation. Only around 15 are performed each year, and they come with a long, painful and mentally and physically tough recovery. Although survival chances start at 85% at one month, they quickly plummet to 70% at one year, and 50% at three years.

“You wouldn’t do it if you had a choice,” says Pauli. “You’d only choose a lung transplant if your other choice was death. Lucky old me. What a choice.”

Inside New Zealand: Life, Death and a Lung Transplant follows Pauli’s battle through the story told by his wife Rachel Jean of Isola Productions. With unlimited, 24-hour access to our subject, this piece documents Pauli’s five-year struggle to get on the waiting list, hope for new lungs, and face the very real possibility of leaving behind a wife and two young children who will not be able to remember their father.

“If it was just me on my own, I probably wouldn’t have bothered. But life is more complicated than that. I’m basically doing it for Rachel and Frankie and Violet. I just don’t want to leave them. I want to see the kids grow up… and they need a dad.”

Tune in for the rollercoaster of emotions that is Inside New Zealand: Life, Death and a Lung Transplant, screening Thursday, July 3rd at 9:30pm on TV3.

Inside New Zealand The Gangs Part Two

Pam Corkery’s eye-opening look into our country’s gang culture continues with an in-depth investigation into the drug P. Find out how it is changing these gangsters from small-time hoods to corporate enterprises when Inside New Zealand: The Gangs (Part Two) screens on Thursday, June 26th at 9:30pm on TV3.

“Everything changed with P,” says Corkery. “With gangs gradually working together there’s millions, maybe billions to be made from the drug.”

Corkery spent 18 months of her life immersed in some of New Zealand’s most notorious and feared gangs, putting herself in many dangerous situations. Perhaps none were more dangerous, however, than filming an operating P-lab and interviewing a very nervous P cook.

This documentary not only shows us the extent of New Zealand’s P problem, but also the battle faced by customs trying to intercept the imports of P and P ingredients. More than a million containers come through the ports each year, and it is impossible to x-ray each one.

Inside New Zealand: The Gangs (Part Two) also looks into the growing issue of New Zealand’s up-and-coming youth gangs.

“There were the late nights spent with machete-wielding, LA-style youth gangs,” says director Laurie Clarke. “Talking to them one-on-one most of them were pleasant, friendly young men, but that all changed when we went out on the streets with them and their gang mates.”

It’s not just society struggling to deal with the youth gangs. They are a headache for the so-called established gangs as well, and meetings are shown with gang bosses trying to find a solution.

“The meetings smacked of hypocrisy, with elders saying they were gang members but they didn’t want the young ones to be,” says Corkery. “Some people are making genuine efforts to stem the rise of the youth gangs but they are at the coal face. They know the reality of the problem as opposed to the current, unworkable suggestions being put forward.”

As this two-part documentary wraps up, we will also look at the future of gangs in our country. Are they with us forever? And in what shape and form as they become increasingly secretive, organised and technology savvy?

“It’s not called the ‘underworld’ for nothing,” says Corkery. “There could be gang activity happening in your street, right now, and you’d be none the wiser.”

Clarke agrees, stating, “With programmes like these it’s all too easy to adopt the shock horror approach and never offer any solutions. We’ve discovered there are people in this country with intelligent solutions to the gang problem – they’re just not being heard.”

So what can be done? And what part do these gangs play in our future if we do nothing? Find out when Inside New Zealand: The Gangs wraps up on Thursday, June 26th at 9:30pm on TV3.