Game of five egos ...

In the wake of Martin Devlin's bout of publicity this week, the Herald dissects the TVNZ game show Game of Two Halves - check this out:

Convictions, addictions and disorderly conduct all par for the course for these big egos, says one television industry insider

They were applauded for being "laddish" and outrageous on screen - but no one is laughing after a fifth panel member of the sports show Game of Two Halves got himself into trouble.

The story then goes on to detail the respective falls from grace:

This week, Radio Sport broadcaster Martin Devlin, 46, admitted he had acted like a "right plum" after sitting on the bonnet of his car during a row with his wife in Quay St, Auckland.

Devlin was originally charged with disorderly behaviour, but was granted diversion.

He had fought to keep his name suppressed but later changed his mind.

His brush with the law follows high-profile scandals involving four of his cast mates on the top-rating TVNZ show - broadcaster Tony Veitch, comedian Mike King, and former All Blacks Matthew Ridge and Marc Ellis.

Ridge was the first to meet the long arm of the law in 2003 when he was fined $1500 for driving while disqualified.

Three years later Ellis was named in a so-called celebrity drug ring and convicted for possession of five Ecstasy tablets.

In 2008 allegations surfaced that Veitch had assaulted his former girlfriend and in 2009 King revealed his 10-year addiction to cocaine

That's all well and good, and as we have previously noted, the Devlin escapade was at the low end of the scale. It would have attracted little attention, but for the name suppression mystery. But we are just a trifle concerned to read the next bit; is this what the state broadcaster should be doing?

A former Game of Two Halves insider was not surprised with the turns the mens' lives had taken.

"They were all such big egos. Part of the culture or premise of the show was to let those egos go crazy, to push the boundaries. They were allowed to be a bit risque and they pushed the boundaries as much as possible every week," she said.

"It doesn't surprise me that they have fallen from grace the way that they have because they lived their lives that way too. They are all very opinionated, outspoken and strong personalities."

She said while on the show the five panel members thought they could get away with anything.

At least one of the men had to be told to tone his behaviour down on screen, while another was reprimanded for throwing a chair across the studio, damaging the set.

"They think they're above the law. They have this celebrity code of conduct that they think what they're doing is okay.

Let's turn our thoughts back to the Paul Henry saga. When Henry made his initial comments about Anand Satynand, there were dismissed as just "Paul Henry being Paul Henry" by TVNZ PR boss Andi Brotherston. And after Henry resigned from TVNZ, he revealed that he had carte blanche to be a shock jock, telling a women's magazine:

"They did capitalise on me," he told New Idea.

"I was the performing snake with the sting in its tail. The better the performance, the greater the encouragement. And then when I turned around and bit someone's head off, they were happy to see the demise of the snake."

It would seem that the same sorts of attitudes have prevailed around Game of Two Halves. TVNZ appears to have given free reign to the "lads" who front the show, and it seems that it's all now coming back to bite TVNZ in the bum.

It leaves us with one question though; was Martin Devlin's description of himself as a "right plum" his own words, or did his statement get written by the PR manager for TVNZ?