I’m trying not to write about lockdown every day. 

And Covid, and case numbers, and gang members, but can I just say to everyone outside of Auckland, please understand that we are living a wildly unpleasant emotional rollercoaster ride right now and it’s not easy. 

I’d like to know how anyone comes out of this not being 10 kilos heavier and not having aged about 100 years. That being said, I did notice the Police 10-7 review is out. See, I’m looking for things that take my mind off the seemingly never-ending lockdown we’re in. 

Remember how Police 10-7 was accused of being racist? Well, the review’s out and it basically says the previous host may've been a bit ‘blunt’ with his words, but that the show’s new approach these days, with a new host, is an improvement.  

Apparently the old original version with Detective Inspector Graham Bell as host promoted a bit too much ‘old school’ policing. He also used phrases that these days would be regarded as, unsavoury, shall we say? 

Stuff like calling suspects ‘gutless goons’, ‘vicious morons’, and ‘lunatic scumbags’. 

I mean personally I like calling a spade a spade. It’s like the Government constantly using the term ‘marginalised groups’ recently for what we all knew was their PC term for ‘gangs’. Just say it, we are grownups, we can handle it. I notice now they’ve actually come out and said it’s gangs, but anyway back to Police 10-7. 

The new host apparently has a slightly more PC turn of phrase, and the show itself has less of a ‘goodie versus baddie’ vibe. There’s a suggestion the promos department runs its promos past the bosses in future, and doesn’t just take the most dramatic clips – or clips involving brown faces.  

Unfortunately, the point of promos is to grab the most dramatic bit of a show to entice the viewer to watch it, the same way newspapers put up salacious clickbait headlines to grab attention and entice readers to click on and read. It’s the way of the world. But not the 2021 world apparently. 

The review also recommended that TVNZ ‘formalise policies for cultural integrity and teach staff about Te Tiriti o Waitangi and racism’. So good luck to the people on that show who’re now undergoing some lessons on racism and the Treaty, because at the end of the day that’s all that’s happening. The show, as we said all along, goes on, it’s not getting cancelled, it makes the network big bucks, and it’s going nowhere.  

A few salient memos or PowerPoints on the Treaty, asking themselves now and again if it’s ‘mana enhancing’ and the producers will also look to make other ‘positive changes’.  

Whether any of this will be evident on screens remains to be seen, but if you’re a fan of this show and you notice you’re now getting watered down versions of it.. then that’s why.