Golden Boy is a New Zealand comedy television series that has aired on Three since 2019.
The show follows Michelle "Mitch" Herewini (Hayley Sproull), a recent university graduate who has moved back home from Auckland to her hometown of Crawdon, and her attempts to build a serious career in journalism while doing shifts at her family's dairy (for non-Kiwis, a small convenience store akin to a petrol station minimart or a roadside bodega). Her pretensions can put her at odds with her fellow townsfolk. By contrast, her younger brother Tama (James Rolleston) is the pride and joy of Crawdon, having made his way onto the All Blacks, and he is widely celebrated in this rugby-loving town.
This show provides examples of:
- Quirky Town: Crawdon is a small town in rural New Zealand with some quirky traditions and even quirkier denizens. Lisa's great-oppa held a prophecy that if Crawdon were to be graced by a seal (the animal), the town would prosper.
- Small Town Boredom: Mitch is initially shown to be desperate to get out of Crawdon and advance her career as a serious journalist, even as she hampers herself by throwing away job opportunities out of suspicion.
- Teacher/Student Romance: Mitch had a crush on Aussie Dave when she was in high school and he was her PE teacher, something which he did not reciprocate at the time (for obvious reasons). However, they do pursue a relationship years later long after she has graduated from university.
- Welcome to the Big City: People from Crawdon often have a dig at Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand.
- Mitch went to Auckland for university and had some bumps when adjusting socially to the big city life.
- In Episode 3, Tama invites Lisa, who has never left Crawdon, to do a joint interview with him in Auckland. When Lisa comes to Susan and Carol for advice, they warn her about the dangers of Auckland and its people based on their only visit to the big city. Carol was appalled when an anti-nuclear activist bumped into her without apologising and the couple had a freakout when on the glass observatory deck at Sky Tower.
