Outrageous Fortune returned to New Zealand TV last night for its fourth season – bringing the lives of our favourite Westies back to our small screens for another year. What is is store for us this season? Cheryl battles the forces of Wolf to defend her kids and her castle, Pascalle returns, and apparently we can expect some very risque sex scenes.

Some months ago, it was announced that the show would be made for US audiences when the rights for an American version of the show were sold to the ABC network, to be developed by the writer of popular shows Veronica Mars and Dawson’s Creek.

This follows a similar situation in Australia where their iconic show Kath & Kim was sold to a US network for production – and will star Hollywood scarlet Selma Blair. Who will take on the roles of the beloved West family stateside? Time will only tell. Outrageous Fortune has been immensely successful in New Zealand and is also showing in Australia and Britain in its current form. It’s also spawning international acting opportunities for some of the stars, it particular Grant Bowler who plays Wolf, who has been seen recently on several episodes of top rating show Lost.

Flight of the Conchords, another NZ TV show making headlines overseas has had some similar international success this week, with actress Jennifer Aniston expressing her interest in guest starring on the show’s second season. Rumor has it that Stephen Speilberg has also requested a copy of the first season from the lead Kiwi stars Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie.

Watch out world, Kiwis are storming small screens left, right, and centre this year!

Image from Flickr.

I read an article this morning which declared that owners of digital video recorder (DVR) consoles and hard drive recorders like MySky generally ignore all advertising on TV, but watch more TV that those without said consoles.

Half of DVR owners claim to fast-forward through all advertisements, and it appears that stay-at-home mothers are most acquainted with the fast-forward button – 9 out of 10 surveyed reported to not watch commercials when watching a recorded program on their DVR.

I am actually a recent convert to hard drive recording, having purchased a DVR about a month ago, for two reasons. The first was naturally, so I could record everything I enjoy watching during the week and watch my favourite shows at a convenient time (say, five shows in a row on a Sunday morning?). The second reason was, just like stay-at-home mums, to fast-forward ads. I actually made a point of buying a console with a thirty-second skip button, so I wouldn’t even have to keep an eye on my fast forwarding, I can just press that button eight times (advertisement breaks on New Zealand television are typically 4 minutes in total).

What does this mean for television advertising and its future? I can truly say that I am pretty much unaffected by small screen advertising, because I rarely even see it… but if television shows are funded solely on advertiser commercials, am I contributing to the jeopardisation of quality television on New Zealand screens?

Image from Flickr.

Try not to get sucked into the TV trap, but make sure you check out TVNZ’s television download service. If you miss an episode of your favourite series or want to enjoy a programme for the second time, then this may be for you. They’ve even included some classic moments from the archives of New Zealand television, alongside popular current shows from TV One and TV2 (my picks are the satirical Facelift and Eating Media Lunch).

And if all those hours of watching TV have whittled away your brainpower, don’t fret – it’s simple to use!

You can download programmes onto your computer to watch at your leisure through Windows Media Player, or you can view them straight away on your computer via the streaming option. All you need to do is purchase a licence to watch each show; it’s a steal at just $2.00 a pop. This fee allows you to watch the show as many times as you want for a period of seven days.

There’s great potential here for all screened television programmes to be available at any hour of the day. For now, it’s mainly New Zealand talent that’s showcased, but there are more programmes lined up for release online soon. Ondemand is a great initiative from our state broadcaster: cheers TVNZ!