Review: 'Best Bits'

One of the stalwarts of television are the shows that bring together a bunch of random clips from reality TV and mock the shows and the participants. When it's done well (say "Talk Soup" at its prime), the results can be pretty funny. But like all comedy, when you miss it's generally a big miss and that always makes these shows a creative highwire act.

"Best Bits" is a new late-night series airing on New Zealand's TV One and based on the first episode, it's a noble if not always entertaining effort to shake up the clip show humor genre. It's hosted by the scruffy-haired comedian Te Radar, who does a solid job walking the line between delivering the punchlines and keeping the fact-paced show moving.

The half-hour show is split into three hunks. The first involves Radar introducing a large selection of very brief reality and lifestyle TV snippets, accompanied by some quick jokes. First up are the shows from New Zealand, followed by a bunch from overseas, primarily the U.S. Some of the jokes are misses, but I appreciate the wide range of shows represented. Although it's frightening to note how many people in the world probably define what they know about America based on shows such as "Restaurant Impossible" and "Doomsday Preppers."

Part two of "Best Bits" brought in two "special guests" to introduce a few clips. Week one's guests were "Back Of The Y" star Matt Heath and TVNZ U host and comedian Rose Matafeo. Booth did a decent job, though it's not clear how much each of them had to do with the process of choosing the clips. Matafeo did a great job skewering daytime soaps ranging from "Days Of Our Lives" to local soap "Shortland Street." But she had a disconcerting habit of not looking at the camera that undercut some of the comedy.

Part three was a "celebrity" interview, this one featuring "Shortland Street" star Billy Strang. I'm not familiar with the show (though based on the clips I've seen, I'm clearly missing something), so it's hard for me to judge about the entertainment value of the segment. It seemed a bit clunky at times, but maybe if I was more familiar with his work, I would have felt differently.

First episodes of a show like "Best Bits" are always a bit awkward and tentative and that certainly was evident here. But Te Radar is a good fit for the format and I like the rapid-fire presentation that focuses on the oddness of the shows being roasted. If you're at home on a Friday night, then you could probably use some laughs. You'll definitely find some of those on "Best Bits," although with any luck the humor will tighten up in the upcoming weeks. It's also a show I'd like to see Hulu pick up for the U.S. market, because I can see it becoming a bit of a cult favorite here.