HD Heads-Up: August 30

August 30, 2018 0 Comments

➢➢ Three is yanking Valor mid-run from primetime for double-episodes of NCIS, ahead of the latter reaching a climactic exit for a core cast member. Valor shifts to 11.15 Fridays from September 14, replacing re-runs of Hawaii Five-O. The only surprise here is why it took Three so long to demote the military drama, which quickly tanked in the ratings after a competitive premiere. Episode seven (9.30 Tuesday) will be the show’s last peak-hour broadcast …

➢➢ In a smart counter-programming move, Shortland Street will screen six nights a week, adding a 7.00 Sunday slot from September 9. The season will open with an hour-long special. Traditionally, TVNZ 2 aired a “winter season” of SS that comprised hour-long Monday eps. So fans won’t be getting more than their usual fix but the new strategy is more tactical for TVNZ 2 as it will challenge the Sunday night supremacy of Three’s The Block NZ …

➢➢ Also new to Sundays from that weekend will be Romper Stomper (TVNZ 1, 10.40), which originally streamed OnDemand. The Sydney Morning Herald called the TV series update of the Russell Crowe skinhead movie “utterly real and completely over the top at the same time” and “one of the most invigorating pieces of television you’ll see all year” while news.com.au dubbed it “well-crafted, ambitious and slick” …

➢➢ In The Secret Life of Girls (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Tuesdays from September 11), two psychologists will observe the lives of five-and six-year-old schoolgirls. Amazingly, the two-part special appears to have been funded from NZ On Air’s Suffrage 125 initiative on the basis these youngsters will be future female voters! …

➢➢ Also new for the week starting September 8 will be the documentary The Truth About Carbs (Prime, 7.30 Sunday), season two of Queen Sugar (TVNZ 1, 11.05 Wednesday), and the return of Prime Rocks, with a Classic Albums take on Amy Whitehouse’s Back to Black (Prime, 8.30 Wednesday), Ice Road Truckers (Prime, 8.30 Thursday) and All Round to Mrs. Brown’s (TVNZ 1, 8.50 Friday) …

➢➢ Ending their runs that week will be Secret Life of Dogs, The Hotel Inspector, Escape, Krypton, Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back, Instinct, Westside, True Medical, Motorway Patrol, Killing Eve, Knightfall (a second season has been commissioned), NCIS: Los Angeles and Naked Attraction …

➢➢ By the way, after screening an 18-year-old episode of The Simpsons — season 12’s premiere — in primetime last week (7.30 Friday), TVNZ 2 is fast-forwarding to season 28 repeats from tomorrow, starting with episode one …

➢➢ Duke will kick off a new soccer show next month. TVNZ Football Club (12.30am Fridays from September 14) will dissect the week’s football action in the Premier League, Europe “and wherever Kiwis lace up their boots” …

➢➢ Coming soon to TVNZ OnDemand: Seatbelt Psychic, a half-hour series that surprises unsuspecting ride-share passengers with the psychic reading of a lifetime (September 14); reunion series We’ll Meet Again (September 9); new seasons of Robbie Coltrane’s Critical Evidence and The Last Ship (September 10); and the “reveal” episode of local interactive whodunit Alibi (September 13) …

➢➢ The only free-to-air movie premieres for the week starting September 8 are I, Daniel Blake (Maori TV, 8.30 Sunday) and Sausage Party (TVNZ 2, 10.00 Sunday). Other HD coming attractions will include: