TV Insider: Alex O’Loughlin brings his family home for Christmas; and why we’re watching more Kiwi TV

HAWAII Five-O star Alex O’Loughlin is bringing his young family home for Christmas; and why we’re watching more Kiwi TV.

HE’S made himself a happy home on the island of Oahu, but Hawaii Five-O star Alex O’Loughlin is bringing his young family back to Australia for the first time this Christmas.

The 39-year-old and his stunning wife, surfer girl Malia Jones, are jetting back to Sydney, reuniting with O’Loughlin’s teenage son Saxon. Jones’ son Spike, 7, (from her second marriage to Aussie surfer ex, Luke Stedman), as well as the couple’s adorable three-year-old boy, Lion, will also be there.

While O’Loughlin’s conversation is littered with Hawaiian phrases and the odd “gnarly” expression (“I’m surrounded by surfers”), the Canberra-born star is looking forward to an Aussie summer.

“I haven’t had a Christmas back there in years, so we’re going to come back and just have a bit of quiet time, breathe a bit of Aussie air and catch up with family and friends,” he told me.

“Also, the little ones haven’t been home so that will be great too ... (the grandparents) are going to get crazy.”

O’Loughlin moved to Hawaii almost six years ago, after landing the lead in the reboot of the 1970s police procedural, opposite Scott Caan (as his Five-O partner, Danny ‘Danno’ Williams).

He bought a $4 million home at Diamond Head, Waikiki, and began dating Jones, 38, four years ago. They quietly married in April last year and both relish their tropical lifestyle: “I love it here (Oahu), it’s my home. I want to raise the kids here. I think it’s a great base geographically for me as well because it’s not as far away from Sydney as LA but it’s not as far away from LA as Sydney. It’s beautiful and clean and the kids are in good schools. They’re into surfing and have got great sports coaching. We’re happy.”

His son Saxon had also been living the Hawaiian life for a few years with his famous dad, until returning to Australia recently to start an apprenticeship.

His youngest was born on the island and given a native name: Lion Kahano, a moniker his dad jokes he sometimes regrets calling him “because he really lives up to his name. He marches to the beat of his own drum. I joke and say he’s the one I worry about the least and the one I worry about the most, you know. He’s the best, mate. He’s a little gift from the heavens, that boy. They all are,” O’Loughlin gushed.

With Five-O midway through filming season six (to air on Ten early next year), the star revealed he was currently off contract but keen to sign up again: “I thought by season six it would be dying. I thought ‘how do you keep a show going like that?’ But it’s a good season, one of our best. I’m ready and just waiting for the call. We’ll see what happens.”

Erik Thomson, Benson Jack Anthony and Melina Vidler who are starring in new TV Show '800 Words'. Picture: Tim Hunter.

BRO-MANCE SEES KIWI SHOWS ‘BACKFILL’ AUSSIE SCHEDULE

WHEN they’re not beating us on the rugby field, it seems our trans-Tasman rivals are making moves to “backfill” our local television schedules with more and more hours of New Zealand programming.

A loophole in the Australian Content Standards legislation, which allows local networks to count Kiwi shows towards local content quotas, has marked an explosion in the broadcast hours of NZ-made shows airing across all free-to-air channels.

With the non-ratings period already biting into quality program choices for Aussie audiences, networks are increasingly offering up a slate of Kiwi dramedys like Agent Anna (7Two) and The Almighty Johnsons (Go! and Gem); and ob-DOCS rom Border Patrol (Seven) to Neighbours At War (7Two) as cheap fodder from across the ditch to fill out their multichannel schedules.

While there has long been agreement to count NZ shows toward local TV targets, figures from the government watchdog, ACMA confirm the hours of Kiwi content has dramatically escalated in recent years, from just 48 hours in 2012, to 120 hours in 2013; before rising further to 180 hours last year.

In addition, tax concessions offered by the NZ Government also saw Seven’s new series, 800 Words (Melina Vidler, Erik Thomson and Benson Jack Anthony, below), which was Australia’s top-rating drama this year, filmed over there but claimed as part of the network’s local drama quota. Coupled with the rising costs of producing drama here, and the trend to commission series with fewer episodes, local TV bosses argue they are wedged into “backfilling” their schedules with more
Kiwi content.

Screen Producers Australia (SPA) plans to campaign next year to tweak the definition of “first release” local content, which would not remove the loophole entirely but hopefully reduce its impact and improve work opportunities here.

SPA chief executive Matthew Deaner said was cheaper to buy a second hand New Zealand program than make our own.

“We feel Australian shows need to be given a fairer go,” he said. “All that needs to happen is for the rules to change so it means if a New Zealand show has already been shown in New Zealand then it doesn’t count as ‘first release’ in Australia.

“This won’t go against the economic treaty, but it will put Australian shows on a level playing field with our New Zealand cousins and that’s a win for Australian audiences.”

The Bastard Executioner, stars Sons Of Anarchy star Katy Sagal.

ONE TO WATCH: PRESTO INKS BLOODY DEAL

GAME of Throners lusting for another bloody new series to sink their teeth into should stream Presto’s hot new import, The Bastard Executioner (available today). From Sons Of Anarchy producer Kurt Sutter, the medieval drama sees warrior Wilkin (Lee Jones) guided by mystic healer (Katy Sagal, pictured) to become a journeyman executioner. Also stars True Blood’s Stephen Moyer.

Bear Grylls with US President Barack Obama.

TV GOSSIP: BEAR AND BO GO WILD

TREKKING through Alaska with the US President — and the Secret Service — was never going to be an ordinary day at the office for adventurer, Bear Grylls (airs 7.30pm, Friday). But the Discovery Channel star reckons it was Obama who had the wild time, telling Grylls it was a highlight of his eight years in power, because “you didn’t want anything from me. We’re just, you know, sharing a little bit of our world.”

Oprah Winfrey is bound for New Zealand after her Aussie stop. Picture: AP

DON’T MISS: O’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT

AS Oprah Winfrey flies out of Sydney today, bound for New Zealand and more shows on her antipodean tour, her local fans can soothe their souls with her latest OWN series, Belief (premiering tonight, 8.30pm on TLC). The six-part series explores religions of the world and how different cultures keep the faith. In the opening episode, cameras follow Aboriginal elder, Terry Gandadila who must pass on his tribal “songlines.”