HD Heads-Up: December 15 – 21

➢➢ ‘Tis the season to be weary of free-to-air TV, with a rapidly rising tide of Yuletide specials and movies (mostly re-runs). Kicking off the Christmas countdown will be Coca-Cola Christmas in the Park (Three, 7.00 Saturday), The Undateables at Christmas (TVNZ 2, 9.10 Monday) and Elton John: I’m Still Standing – A Grammy Salute (TVNZ 1, 7.30 Wednesday). The only FTA movie premiere will be Alice Through the Looking Glass (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Wednesday). Other coming attractions in HD will include:

• Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (Three, 3.50 Saturday)
• Shrek Forever After (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Big (Three, 8.00 Saturday)
• Starship Troopers (TVNZ 2, 8.40 Saturday)
• The Jackal (Three, 10.10 Saturday)
• Mad Max 2 – The Road Warrior (TVNZ 2, 11.20 Saturday)
• Mommy’s Secret (TVNZ 2, 1.15am Sunday)
• Fred Claus (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Sunday)
• Taken (Three, 8.30 Sunday)
• Chinatown (Maori TV, 8.30 Sunday)
• Little Fockers (TVNZ 2, 9.00 Sunday)
• First Sunday (Duke, 9.00 Sunday)
• Final Destination (TVNZ 2, 11.55 Sunday)
• The Hunger Games (Prime, 8.30 Monday)
• Sisters (Three, 8.40 Monday)
• Joyful Noise (TVNZ 2, 8.05 Tuesday)
• Christmas With the Kranks (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• Die Hard With a Vengeance (Three, 8.40 Wednesday)
• Vacation (TVNZ 2, 9.05 Wednesday)
• The World is Not Enough (Three, 7.30 Thursday)
• The Shawshank Redemption (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Thursday)
• Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Friday)
• Stir Crazy (Duke, 8.30 Friday) …

➢➢ Returning that week will be SEAL Team (Prime, 8.30 Sunday), Swipe Right for Murder (Three, 9.40 Tuesday), The Red Stag Timber Hunters Club (Prime, 9.30 Thursday) and Scorpion (Prime, 7.30 Friday) …

➢➢ The week’s only other newcomer will be Duke’s Extraordinary Flights (8.30 Wednesdays), a series about “off-standard” planes and their unusual cargos …

➢➢ Ending their runs will be Shortland Street, Project Runway NZ, The Great Kiwi Bake Off, Take Two, HOMEmade, Motorway Patrol, The Last Ship and The Looming Tower …

➢➢ New to TVNZ OnDemand from December 17 will be Find My Killer, a fictional murder investigation that was inspired by real events and is billed as a “dramatic and compelling insight into the fast paced, information-laden, screen-fixated society we’ve become” …

➢➢ Wellington Paranormal fans can enjoy a marathon re-run when TVNZ 2 screens the first six episodes back to back from 9.25 on December 21 …

➢➢ Duke will add live squash to its roster, with primetime coverage of New Zealand Exhibition Squash on December 16 …

➢➢ Jason Momoa, Dame Darcey Bussell, Bill Bailey and Little Mix will appear on the December 21 broadcast of The Graham Norton Show (Three, 8.00).