One of the longest-standing icons of New Zealand culture may be getting the cut.
‘Shortland Street’, which has provided entertainment, meme-worthy soundbites and many nationwide inside jokes for 32 years, is under review by TVNZ. They cut ‘Fair Go’, ‘Sunday’ and their midday and 10 PM news bulletin earlier this week due to a string of budget cuts, and the hospital soap opera is not immune.
"'Shortland Street' is a commercially funded show (paid for entirely by TVNZ’s advertising revenue),” a spokesperson for the show told Stuff. “Like many businesses across Aotearoa, the current recessionary environment is having a big impact on TVNZ.”
“As a result, we need to look at everything across our slate to ensure we remain commercially viable. This includes 'Shortland Street'."
Kelly Martin, the CEO of 'Shortland Street'’s production company South Pacific Pictures, said the show’s future is “unclear”.
“It’s definitely something that's up for discussion and I don’t know what the outcome of those discussions would be.”
The cut would seriously be a big loss not just for audiences but also for NZ’s showbiz industry. Temuera Morrison, Karl Urban and KJ Apa, to name a few, all had roles on ‘Shortland Street’ and went on to be in massive movies and TV shows.
It’s also put New Zealand on the map. Like that iconic “Please tell me that is not your penis” line, which went viral after Jimmy Kimmel recreated it with actor Alec Baldwin on his late-night talk show.
Things just would not be the same if we no longer get the goss on the iconic hospital.
