As portrayed in Love Patrol, series two, which started on Maori Television last Tuesday, Vanuatuan blokes are: drunk, lazy, uneducated, hypocritical and foul spreaders of HIV.
However, it's incredibly popular with the locals.
Series one, Vanuatu's first locally produced TV programme, was watched by more than 90% of the population of Port Vila when it first aired in 2007.
It has screened in nations across the Pacific, while four episodes of this series were shown at an HIV Aids conference in Bali last year.
That's because its primary goal is to try to educate Pacific Islanders on behaviour leading to HIV infection.
A coherent script takes second priority to the "message" - and some sexist characters.
One of Love Patrol's leading men is young unemployed Carlo, who is married to Wendy.
When Wendy gets the sulks over their lack of prospects, Carlo casually tells his friend, "You know what girls are like when they get something into their head."
You get the feeling that's a saying that has been passed down for many generations.
A police officer called Mark, separated for two years from his HIV-positive wife (he gave it to her, what a gift), is furious when she goes public about her condition in the paper.
He won't take the tests or admit he is positive himself.
Meanwhile, his workmates are so ill-informed they think they'll catch HIV just by sitting in the same patrol car.
The big drama in this new series also centred on an effete Australian "businessman" in cahoots with a corrupt politician.
The Aussie is also bankrolling the importation of heroin so it can be couriered on to Australia and New Zealand.
When Carlo found one of the bags of smack washed up on the beach, he took it home, possibly signing his own death sentence.
The drama culminated in scenes involving a blow to the head, hostage-taking and the spillage of what looked suspiciously like icing sugar.
The acting in Love Patrol is understandably variable and the scenes chop around unevenly, but it's an interesting insight into life in a Pacific "paradise".
The scenes of a bored kid scratching at the dirt with a stick instead of going to school said it all.
- Love Patrol screens Tuesdays at 9.30pm on Maori Television.
