Throng

8:00pm Monday, September 6 on TV One

Marc Ellis recons he's pretty normal and in the second series of How The Other Half Lives (tonight on TV ONE at 8pm) he jumps the fence of normality to check out New Zealanders who have chosen to live a lifestyle outside the mainstream.

For Ellis, the series is about the different ways various communities measure success. "Clearly there are many out there who have jumped off the treadmill and who have chosen a simpler or different way of life in the pursuit of happiness, [How The Other Half Lives] is designed to show the average Kiwi still on the treadmill other ways of measuring success."

Along the way, there is much to be learnt from the New Zealand communities living outside the norm, and Ellis' experiences have helped him to truly appreciate that happiness is an interpretation of a person's circumstances.

Here's a summary of how the new Kiwi shows of 2009 have fared based on episodes screened to date...

Tuesday 9 June, 9.30pm

With buttered chicken the extent of Marc Ellis’ knowledge of Indian culture, he was keen to discover a little more about the large population of Indians living in New Zealand, on tonight’s episode of How The Other Half Lives at 9.30pm on TV ONE.

When Ellis and his team set out to select communities for this series they wanted to show diverse views of the world and spend a few days with them. From Chatham Islanders to Muslims, the desire was to enter their environment with fresh eyes to examine and enjoy the differences.

Ellis says, "We have travelled the length and breadth of New Zealand and have spent time with everyone from hippies to coalminers, from Indians to bushmen, it's been good crack."