New Zealand is a very small dot on the global stage and we have a very, very small pool of "celebrities", which is why, I fear, Dancing With The Stars is approaching its use-by date.
Honestly, I liked the first few seasons of Stars. It was fresh, it was quirky and it was kind of cool seeing some famous faces take to the dance floor and try their hand at the foxtrot, the rumba, the waltz.
There have been absolute top telly moments from this programme in recent years - former All Black Norm Hewitt going hard out, Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt's permanent grin shimmering across the dance floor and, who could forget, ACT MP Rodney Hide dropping his partner.
It was classic television. It was fun, addictive, everything live telly should be.
But does the "last dance" now beckon for this show? What exactly qualifies a participant as a "celebrity''?
No offence intended towards this year's dancers, but when you start to scrape the bottom of the "famous barrel'' maybe producers should just concede defeat and move on to something else. John Rowles had the right idea, I reckon.
Talking about knowing when is the right time to go - what a touching moment recently with the final goodbye to beloved Coronation Street character Vera Duckworth.
I am not ashamed to admit that I don't mind Coro now and again. Although I don't catch up with the Rovers Return that often, I made a special effort to catch the last episode of "our Vera''.
No big departure, no huge hurrah. Yappy Vera left this mortal coil lying in her sofa chair. Her long-suffering yet adoring husband, Jack, found her there and his reaction was raw, emotional and heartfelt.
He had lost the love of his life, the woman he couldn't live with, the woman he couldn't live without. Farewell Vera.
By the way, my initial fears about the second series of The Flight of the Conchords have been allayed - after episode two!
The catchy music is back, the bad acting is back, Murray Hewitt, bless him, is back. Normal transmisison has resumed.
Don't miss:
Underbelly: the Mr Asia Story, TV3, Wednesdays, 8.30pm: Got to have my weekly fix of this series. It is violent, it portrays villains as heroes and it portrays a part of forgettable recent Australian and New Zealand history but there is something about Underbelly that keeps me coming back for more.
Don't bother:
Mitre 10 Dream Home, Mondays, TV2, 7.30pm: Like Dancing With The Stars, this series seems to be fast reaching the end, isn't it? Hugely commercial, blatantly free advertising for big companies, the couples hardly pay for most of the gear they greedily slip into their properties. And they end up with the house at the end anyway!
It was good once. Not so flash now.
