{"id":92479,"date":"2025-10-21T17:04:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T17:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/92479\/"},"modified":"2025-10-21T17:04:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T17:04:08","slug":"taika-waititis-return-to-nz-television-in-educators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/92479\/","title":{"rendered":"Taika Waititi\u2019s return to NZ television in Educators"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sitcom is set in an ordinary New Zealand high school with wildly inappropriate teachers and exaggerated versions of the real-life scenarios teachers face. It was awarded Best Comedy at the 2023 New Zealand Television Awards. <\/p>\n

\"TaikaTaika Waititi in Educators. Photo \/ South Pacific Pictures<\/p>\n

The Herald got the first look at Waititi\u2019s<\/a> scene, where his character, Tony, persuades a high school woodworking class, taught by his brother Ra (played by Cohen Holloway) to ditch their assignments and undertake a personal project for him instead. <\/p>\n

\u201cI need some help bro,\u201d Tony is seen telling Ra as he busts in on the class. \u201cThese kids, what are they making?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re making bread boards,\u201d replies Ra. <\/p>\n

\u201cBread boards?! That\u2019s just like taking a piece of wood and making a piece of wood. That\u2019s too easy for them. You need to elevate their skills bro. I\u2019ve got just the project for you,\u201d says Tony, before the sneak preview ends.<\/p>\n

The pair previously worked together in Eagle vs. Shark and Boy, and Holloway told the Herald that having the What We Do in the Shadows producer on set of the South Pacific Pictures production was a delight. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was great to work with Taika again in a scene, he always brings his own brand of improvisation and surprises,\u201d said Holloway.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe core cast of Educators season 4. Photo \/ South Pacific Pictures<\/p>\n

The show is directed by award-winning<\/a> comedian and writer Jesse Griffin, who said the cast was made up of his comedy heroes, including The Mighty Boosh\u2019s Julian Barrett, UK comedy legend Julia Davis and, of course, Waititi. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been a massive long-time fan of all of their work \u2013 Julia\u2019s show Human Remains with Rob Brydon remains a benchmark for character TV comedy, Julian\u2019s legendary shows with Noel Fielding in The Mighty Boosh massively inspired me as a young comic, and of course while I\u2019ve known Taika for years, having him on set and seeing him mucking about and being hilarious with Cohen and Kura was buzzy and very special,\u201d said Griffin. <\/p>\n

The core cast of Jackie van Beek (Audrey, What We Do in the Shadows, The Breaker Upperers), Jonny Brugh (The Office, What We Do in the Shadows, Thor), Rick Donald (The Office, Population 11, Roast Night) and award-winning comedian Kura Forrester are also joined this season by guest star Kim Crossman, who plays a police officer in episode three. <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter working with director Jesse Griffin on\u202fLast at 11\u202fa few years ago, I\u2019ve been itching to collaborate with him again. Getting to act and improvise opposite the incredible talent that is Jackie van Beek was a masterclass in improv, and I loved every second of it. I can\u2019t wait to see the new season, and I\u2019m stoked to be a part of it,\u201d said Crossman. <\/p>\n

\"KimKim Crossman (left) stars in season 4 of Educators. Photo \/ South Pacific Pictures<\/p>\n

All episodes of Educators seasons 4 are available from November 1 on TVNZ+. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sitcom is set in an ordinary New Zealand high school with wildly inappropriate teachers and exaggerated versions…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":92480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[38327,5813,44409,3682,69199,78,194,111,43,139,69,1527,62105,1963,29715,417,61,37105,69198,80],"class_list":["post-92479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-educators","tag-acting","tag-chops","tag-comedy","tag-flexing","tag-in","tag-kiwi","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-return","tag-screens","tag-series","tag-taika","tag-television","tag-to","tag-waititi","tag-waititis","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/92480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}