As the Rugby World Cup passes colourfully by, and large and sometimes ugly men have their brief moment in the spotlight, Maori Television has hit upon a concept that, one can only hope, will thrust much needed change into that sometimes dim-witted sport.
Maori TV has been a big winner in the viewer-ship stakes, coming out well ahead of TV One and TV3 for a recent quarterfinal, with more than 500,000 tuning in to its commentary team.
And watching Saturday's Wales v France game perhaps showed why.
Comedy came into Australian sport some time ago, led since 1986 by Greig Pickhaver and John Doyle in the role of "H.G.
Nelson" and "Rampaging Roy Slaven" respectively.
Their league commentaries were legendary, and somehow, they made it cool to like sport.
It is unfortunate we see little of them here.
Peter FitzSimons continues that recent tradition, and his addition to the Maori TV commentary on Saturday added much to the event.
FitzSimons played seven tests at lock for the Wallabies between 1989 and 1990, and his chief claim to fame is being one ofonly two Wallabies ever sent from the field against the All Blacks, during a 1990 Bledisloe Cup match.
On Saturday he did a great job of quoting Winston Churchill without good reason, and making wild predictions that turned out to be wrong.
Best of all, he provided a great counter-point to Keith Quinn, bringing out a less serious side that has been waiting quietly for release.
The commentary was shambolic, enjoyable, and most importantly, did not contain the thoughts of Justin Marshall at any time, nor those of Hamish McKay.
If any human activity is ripe for satire it must be sport, and if any sport has been gagging for uproarious laughter, it is rugby in New Zealand.
And take note, television bosses, New Zealanders have voted with their remote controls.
When both life and television return to normal following this weekend's final, you might want to catch up with series two of the Inbetweeners.
It may have been on at least once in the past, but the show about the painful teenage years of four lovable British lads is terrifically well written.
It will also be good preparation for the film of the same name, which is coming out this month, I understand.
It does have adult language, so be warned.
