Jason Gunn

Jason Gunn (born 26 December 1968) is a New Zealand television personality. He is famously known in New Zealand from shows as The Son of a Gunn Show and What Now in the late 80s to early 90s. He best known for his role as being the host of hit New Zealand entertainment television shows such as Dancing with the Stars, Wheel of Fortune, and The Rich List, and also the afternoon show on radio station Classic Hits FM. He currently co-hosts More FM’s Christchurch Drive show with Lana Searle.^[1]

Early career

Jason Gunn started his focus in the Broadcasting industry as a student in the 80's at Christchurch Polytechnic New Zealand Broadcasting School in Christchurch, New Zealand as a radio student before studying Television Broadcasting he then left becoming the most successful applicant in the NZBS history.

Gunn is best known for being "the face of children's television" during the late 1980s and 1990s. Gunn cites many of his presenting skills from being able to pick them up in the first few months at Christchurch from the experienced children's TV crew and presenters around him.^[2] He hosted 'After School' (1989) and co-hosted The Son of a Gunn Show (1992–1995) and Jase TV (1992) with his sidekick Thingee, a grey puppet with bulbous eyes. Jason and Thingee also starred in Jase and Thingees Big Adventure, a straight-to-video kids movie based on The Son of a Gunn Show. Thingee infamously lost an eye during one Son of a Gunn broadcast, though given the show was pre-recorded there is argument that it never appeared on the actual show but only in a blooper reel.^[3] Thingee returned to his home planet on an episode of What Now?.

After the end of Son of a Gunn in 1995, Gunn began to expand his demographic, hosting performance showcase McDonald's Young Entertainers, and the show Small Talk, in which contestants guess how children will answer questions.

Other works

When The Son of a Gunn Show finished (due to TVNZ moving their children's television operations to Wellington), Jason became a radio announcer for More FM. Between 1997 and 1999 he hosted a variety show, McDonald's Young Entertainers, and at one stage was the voice for a New Zealand pre-school character, Bumble. He also MCs for local entertainment and functions and sometimes Talent Quest at schools and malls.

Present career

Jason became the co-host of the Classic Hits FM Breakfast show for Christchurch in 2009. In July 2012, he moved to a nationwide networked show with co-host Dave Fitzgerald. While other Classic Hits nationwide shows are broadcast from Auckland, the afternoon drive show "Jase and Dave" is broadcast from Christchurch.^[4] However, citing family reasons, he resigned from this position at the end of 2013 and broadcast his last show on 20 December 2013.

More recently, Jason has hosted Dancing with the Stars from 2005-2009. He hosted game show The Rich List weekly in 2007-2008.

A patron of the National Youth Theatre Company of New Zealand (NYTC), Jason also runs a production and facilities company, Whitebait-TV, in Christchurch with his wife, Janine Morrell-Gunn, for which he writes, directs and produces for television, including children's show, What Now and oversees the production of television commercials.^[5]

With Janine, Jason started a charity called "Adopt a Christchurch Family" following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.

Filmography

• Wheel of Fortune (2008–2009)
• The Rich List (2007–2008)
• Dancing with the Stars (2005–2009)
• Bumble (2000)
• McDonald's Young Entertainers (1997–1999)
• New Zealand's Funniest Home Videos (1993–1995)
• The Son of a Gunn Show (1992–1995)
• Jase TV (1992)
• What Now (1991–1993) (2003–present as production manager, creative writer, and director)
• After School (1988)
• Small Talk
• After 2 (1989–1991)
• Look Who's Famous Now

References

External links

• Jason Gunn at the Internet Movie Database
• Jason Gunn biography on NZ On Screen