Going but not forgotten

The Kiwi television institution that is Fair Go faces the axe after 47 years on screen. Here’s how the Listener captured the history of the once-pioneering series and its effect on New Zealand.

- RUSSELL BAILLIE

'In The Life and Times of a Brown Paper Bag, the 2010 book that presenter Kevin Milne wrote to mark the end of his long career on Fair Go, he remembers inquiring of then-TVNZ boss Rick Ellis how long he thought the soon-to-be-axed consumer show might last.

"For as long as it rates was his answer. Fair enough. In a perfect world, I suppose I'd love to have read: 'For as long as it proves a lifeline to Kiwis in need. It's inextricably part of TVNZ's brand now, like Country Calendar. We owe it so much."

" Fair Go began on April 7, 1977. Its present team were hoping they would celebrate a 50th birthday in a few years. But with TVNZ's proposed gutting of its current affairs offerings, including flagship show Sunday, come May, that's likely it for Fair Go, the second-longest running show (after Country Calendar) on NZ television.

The show has had 50 or more presenters and reporters in its time. Some, like Milne and his first-generation FG colleagues Brian Edwards, Philip Alpers and Kerre Woodham, became household names from their time on the show. For some, like Kim Hill, Sharon Crosbie, Carol Hirschfeld and Amanda Millar, it was a springboard.

Since the show's beginnings, many of its stars appeared in the pages of the Listener. Put all those features, profiles and reviews together and you would have a potted history of the show. Well, there's an idea...

APRIL 1977

Hardheaded interviewer Brian Edwards and producer Peter Morritt kick off a consumer show for Television One based on viewers' complaints. Reporters Spencer Jolly and Gillian McGregor make up the initial line-up and the show also features a sideline in buyer-beware comedy skits.

Morritt: We're interested in the little people either as citizens, employees, patients or consumers.