Although television is a predominantly entertaining medium, it can be informative too. Here are some tips we derived from last year’s shows...

1. Rappers with annoying repetitive tunes are more successful then comedy folk-style music. Lesson from final of Flight of the Conchords (except that the success of this programme thankfully contradicts this to an extent).

2. Always wait for the green man signal before crossing at the traffic lights! One cannot be a good role model if they break the law. Lesson from Who Wants to Be a Superhero.

3. All those much needed extra thousands of dollars from interweaving money schemes really ARE too good to be true.
When will our Westie friends learn? Lesson from Outrageous Fortune.

4. Working in women’s retail will never be the same again after realising you and a colleague may be turning into Prue or Trude from Kath and Kim. “Nice”, “different” and “unusual” can also never be used seriously in the same sentence again.

5. Beware of sleeping angel statues and avoiding keeping them in your garden unless you have more then one facing each other. Lesson from a rather scary episode of Doctor Who.

6. If you want to look great in the nude, forget losing weight. A large photo of your naked self displayed in public does the trick. Lesson from How to Look Good Naked.

7. No matter what your consumer-related problem, get a well-known TV show to give the company in question a bad reputation and problem solved! Lesson from Fair Go.

8. If you want to dress well (according to Trinny and
Susannah), wear a: three-quarter sleeve v-neck top,
a floaty skirt, jewellery, heels and have short, feathery
blonde-highlighted hair. Lesson from What Not to Wear.

9. Women are better drivers then men. Ellen Macarthur, record-breaking yachtswoman, managed to set the fastest celebrity lap time of the first eight series of Top Gear.

10. Stay home when trade-persons are round (although many can be trusted) and check food hygiene certificates at eating establishments. Lesson from Target - enough said.

11. Old-fashioned family-friendly talent quests will never go
out of date (although “The Hoff” might). Lesson from
America’s Got Talent.

12. Keep your privacy by scrubbing inside your oven. Although it may seem to be ‘out of sight, out of mind’ a friend may just call mess experts Carolyn and Evon round to show the nation that you don’t clean enough. Lesson from How Clean is Your House?

13. Being a student in New Zealand is one big drunken party (yeah right). Lesson from Studentville.

And while you wait for all the new seasons of your fav TV programmes, keep busy and entertained with those good old telly repeats that are on over the New Year.

Happy viewing!