The most popular TV Series in New Zealand
Living in Germany you probably came across shows like “Gute Zeiten — Schlechte Zeiten”, “Unter uns” oder “Alles was zählt”.
In 1992 TV2, a New Zealand broadcastor aired the first episode of “Shortland Street”. The Series has been on air since and is still rolling.
There have been over 25 seasons and over 5,000 episodes.
Set in the fictive Shortland Street the Series tells the story about a hospital in New Zealand.
The reason for the show starting in 1992 was that the broadcastor TV2 wanted to create something ‘made in New Zealand’. The first 5 episodes flopped. Fortunatly the broadcastor had already given a year’s worth of episodes into production.
The Series plays with many different social groups in New Zealand.
Starting from the rich population (represented by the doctors) to the poor population (characters living on the street).
The show aroused some social criticsm on various levels.
It was criticised for being to sexual when an oral sex scene aired in 2008.
It was also criticised for having open gay relationships on air when no one cared to talk about them. There is also an ongoing conflict with the Maori on the show.
The show is also played in Australia, Ireland, Fiji and the UK.
