HD Heads-Up: April 20 – 26

➢➢ Prime’s scheduled a showstopping week for music fans, starting with three music specials on Easter Sunday and continuing with the return of Prime Rocks on Tuesday. It will sandwich the free-to-air premiere of Flight of the Conchords: Live in London (9.05 Sunday) with a 7.20 encore of Jesus Christ Superstar Live! and a 10.30 repeat of Crowded House: Live From the Sydney Opera House. Prime Rocks (8.35 Tuesday) will resume with David Bowie – Finding Fame, which charts the the early year of the Starman’s rise, from the late 1960s  to the on-stage death of Ziggy Stardust in 1973 …

➢➢ The Guardian predicted the Bowie doco would be a pretty tough watch for his fans: “Still think of Bowie as the last word in cool? You’ve obviously forgotten his novelty single about gnomes, his dire mime days … and his cover of Chim Chim Cher-ee.” But The Independent was relieved it “thankfully fails to ‘make sense’ of a man whose appeal was all about mystery” …

➢➢ Prime will mark Anzac Day with the premiere of the documentary, POW: Prisoners of War (9.30 Thursday), in which four Kiwi servicemen captured during World War II share their stories of life in the camps, from harsh living conditions to brutal discipline and escape attempts …

➢➢ Maori TV will devote its Thursday daytime schedule with a slew of Anzac specials, including two live broadcasts bookending three war-themed documentaries: Auckland’s ANZAC Dawn Service 2019 (5.45am) and the ANZAC Cove Dawn Service (2.30). It will also air the movie, The Lighthorsemen, the following Saturday. TVNZ 1 will provide Anzac coverage during Breakfast and carry the Wreath Laying Service live from 11am  …

➢➢ TVNZ 1 will use Easter Sunday to brighten up Sunday night with the series premiere of Les Miserables (8.35) and MotherFatherSon (9.40). The former is an adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel about the French Revolution and stars Lily Collins, Dominic West and Olivia Colman; the latter stars Richard Gere as a ruthless self-made media mogul …

➢➢ Quipped The Guardian’s headline writer in its review of Les Miserables:  “Merci, Andrew Davies, c’est magnifique.” The Telegraph called the premiere “solidly impressive” but the New Statesman thought it “pretty dire” …

➢➢ The network also will premiere Secrets of the Royal Babies (8.30 Wednesday), which will explore everything from weird and wonderful royal birthing traditions and the intense press scrutiny to juggling mothering with royal duties and handling the domestic politics of life with a royal nanny. TVNZ 1 also will repeat Elton John: The Nation’s Favourite Song (7.30 Thursday), as a bizarre Anzac Day special …

➢➢ Ending their runs that week will be NZ Hunter Adventures, 3rd Rock From the Sun, Married … With Children, Demolition NZ and Love Your Home and Garden while premiering as a weekday strip will be I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! Australia (4.30 Thursday) …

➢➢ Anzac Day occurring the same week as Easter and the start of the school holidays means a free-to-air movie bonanza that will include two network premieres — Hacksaw Ridge (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Saturday), Pete’s Dragon (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Friday) —  the double-billing of the first two Crocodile Dundee movies (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Thursday) and an early morning weekday season of animated Lego movies on TVNZ 2 from 6.50am Monday …

➢➢  Other HD coming attractions for the week starting April 20 will include:

• A Cinderella Story (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Sunday)
• Minions (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• Captain America: The Winter Soldier (TVNZ 2, 8.50 Saturday)
• Jaws the Revenge (Three, 8.55 Saturday)
• Piranha 2: The Spawning (Duke, 9.25 Saturday)
• Morgan (Three, 10.40 Saturday)
• London Boulevard (TVNZ 2, 11.30 Saturday)
• Her Final Bow (Three, 12.30am Sunday)
• The Caterpillar’s Kimono (Three, 2am Sunday)
• The Great Gatsby (TVNZ 1, 3.35am Sunday)
• Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (TVNZ 2, 6.40am Sunday)
• The BFG (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Sunday)
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (Three, 8.30 Sunday)
• Born on the Fourth of July (Maori TV, 8.30 Sunday)
• The Finest Hours (TVNZ 2, 8.50 Sunday)
• The Gift (TVNZ 2, 11.35 Sunday)
• Are We Done Yet? (TVNZ 2, 11.50am Monday)
• Ice Age (Three, 4.20 Monday)
• The Hundred Foot Journey (TVNZ 1, 7.30 Monday)
• X2 (Prime, 9.30 Monday)
• Who Killed JonBenet? (Three, 10.55 Monday)
• People vs Larry Flynt (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• A Mother Betrayed (Three, 1.30 Wednesday)
• Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief (Three, 7.30 Wednesday)
• Reluctant Nanny (Three, 6.20am Thursday)
• Love at First Bark (Three, 7.50am Thursday)
• Speed Racer (Three, 9.20am Thursday)
• Sin and Seduction (Three, 1.30 Thursday)
• Salt (Three, 8.35 Thursday)
• Sweet Surrender (Three, 1.35 Friday)
• Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (Three, 8.00 Friday)
• Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (Duke, 8.30 Friday)
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (Maori TV, 8.30 Friday)
• Reign of Fire (TVNZ 2, 9.15 Friday).