HD Heads-Up: August 16-22

August 7, 2025 0 Comments

➢➢ TVNZ 2 uses the latest season of Taskmaster NZ to bed in a raft of non-scripted newcomers. S6 of TNZ will anchor the schedule in the critical 7.30 Monday-Tuesday slots. It will lead into S8 of the Gordon Ramsay restaurant rescue series, Kitchen Nightmares, on Tuesdays and will be used to promote not only its premiere but also that of Australian Survivor: Australia vs The World, which launches 7.30 Thursday. It pits some of Australian Survivor’s best against those from other international series, including Survivor NZ: Thailand‘s winner, Lisa Holmes. And opening the week in a similar vein is the Bradley and Barney Walsh-front special, Celebrity Gladiators (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Sunday) …

➢➢ Celebrity Gladiators and TNZ will face off against the first two episodes of The Floor Australia (Three, 7.00 Sunday, 7.30 Monday), the Australian hit in which 81 contestants, each with specialist expert knowledge, duel it out to wipe the floor of rivals and win $200,000; and Paddy Gower Has Issues (Three, 7.30 Tuesday) …

➢➢ Prime refreshes its line-up with the S1 premieres of A&E: Crash Scene Emergency (7.30 Tuesday) and The Incident Room (8.30 Tuesday). The latter is a four-part Channel 5 series that promises viewers “a front row seat” for the investigation of UK murder cases …

➢➢ Also new, and undoubtedly the pick of the week’s premieres, is the two-part documentary Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New Tricks (8.30 Wednesday), in which deaf actress Rose Ayling-Ellis tries to teach British Sign Language to retirees. The Guardian praised it as “funny, beautiful TV that leaves a lump in the throat … charming, intelligent and emotional” …

➢➢ Mana Moana Mana Tangata (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday) is billed as a “gripping feature-length documentary” that chronicles Māori’s fishing rights struggle “against systemic racism and colonial injustice” to win “a landmark victory for indigenous sovereignty” …

➢➢ Ending their runs are:

Highway Patrol
All American: Homecoming
Eat Well for Less NZ
The Rookie
Flatbush Misdemeanors
Beat the Chasers
SOS: Extreme Rescues
Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent …

➢➢ Live/delayed sport includes:

Farah Palmer Cup: Bay of Plenty v Manawatu (Sky Open, 11.30am Saturday)
Heartland Championship: Horowhenua Kapiti v Buller (Sky Open, 2.00 Saturday)
NPC: Hawkes Bay v North Harbour (Sky Open, 7.30 Saturday)
NRL: Broncos v Dolphins R24 (Sky Open, 9.30 Saturday)
Premier League: Goal Rush — Tottenham v Burnley (Sky Open, 10am Sunday)
UFC: 319 Prelims (Sky Open, midday Sunday)
TRC: Argentina v All Blacks (Sky Open, 2.00 Sunday)
NRLW: Warriors v Raiders R7 (Sky Open, 4.00 Sunday)
NRL: Panthers v Raiders R25 (Sky Open, 7.30 Friday)
RWC: England v USA (Sky Open, 5.30am Saturday) …