In New Zealand in the '80s there were two television stations (TWO!), sensibly named Television One and TV2.
As a young child, I had little use for the former. But the latter and its catchy "bringing the world to you on two" slogan had us racing home for the hour or so of programming dedicated to kids' TV.
I was too young for Nice One Stu and only 8 when Olly Ohlson signed his last "keep cool 'til after school", but his grip on the children of the decade is still firm.
Mention TV presenters of the time and Olly's name will always come up. Over the years I've often wondered what he's doing now. For a while I really believed he owned the Ollies Burger and Ice cream store in Auckland's Royal Oak and used to pester my parents to go when we made school holiday trips to Tāmaki Makarau.
Ohlson was teaching and had had a foray into television a few years before when he was asked to audition to be a children's presenter, making the show After School his own.
"Very happy memories, really good, because I was actually writing my own scripts — I knew nothing about the autocue," he said.
"I didn't pay attention to the cameras, I just imagined I was talking to my own girls and my own family and that's the way I imagine being in everyone's living rooms."
Still, he admits it was a challenge since he didn't learn English until he was 10.
"After my father died, my mother got the family to talk to me in English," he explained.
"But my English wasn't very good, my understanding of English, so I learnt things off by heart."
But he knew what he wanted to do with the show: introduce Te Reo Māori. He says he was never really given the green light to do so, recalling a conversation he had with his boss.
"He found out I wanted to talk Te Reo and said if we do it for you, we have to do it for the other minority groups. 'I'm not giving you permission,' he said, 'but I'm not denying it either.' That was his soft way of saying go ahead but it's your responsibility."
Watching back on the limited archive that still exists of After School, Ohlson used greetings, karakia and explained the meaning of words – a pioneer of his time.
"The response that I got from my own people... they bought a receiver and took it by horseback up into Urewera country and a whole lot of them put up a marquee and they watched me on TV. That's how big of deal it was for them."
But Ohlson wasn't finished. Next up was the Deaf community – he incorporated sign language into his catchphrase "keep cool 'til after school".
"The response was really good because I didn't know what was good and what wasn't, but as far as I knew I was getting mail. But then when I did sign language, I went from 10 letters a week to five mailbags worth. That's a heck of a difference. The guy from the post office said, 'where do you want me to put your mail?' and I said 'in the tray' and he said 'oh, you better come and have a look' and there were bags of letters."
Ohlson, now living in Dunedin and teaching adults ancient Māori philosophy, is enjoying the resurgence of Te Reo.
"I love it. I love it. I love the fact that we are really, physically doing something to be New Zealanders and I love the fact that we are embracing both languages."
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