HD Heads-Up: February 13 – 19

➢➢ TVNZ 2 at last abandons its summer movies schedule to launch a slew of new-season shows in the week starting February 13, including old favourites in new slots and a local version of a global format. Fans of The Simpsons will be pleased to see the latest season on air here earlier than usual, spearheading a Saturday night comedy block from 7.00 that will include Young Sheldon at 7.30 and Mom at 8.00 ahead of movies …

➢➢ In other time slot changes, The Amazing Race Australia will screen 7.30 Sundays and Have You Been Paying Attention? will return to anchor Tuesdays at 8.30. The same week TVNZ 2 will screen The Big Fat Quiz of Everything 2020 (8.30 Wednesday) …

➢➢ Travel Guides NZ brings the global format home (TVNZ 2, 8.00 Thursdays from February 18). Promises the publicity: “One person’s idea of paradise is another’s nightmare, and our opinionated travellers will be thrown out of their comfort zones as they deliver brutally honest and hilarious reviews of NZ’s unique tourist attractions in six jam-packed episodes” …

➢➢ The Walkers (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Mondays) follows a year in the life of 2009 Australian Idol winner Stan Walker and his family as they navigate 2020 from either side of the Tasman. It’s billed as being “entertaining and unfiltered” …

➢➢ TVNZ 1 also will refresh its line-up with The Trump Show Special: Downfall (8.30 Monday), which concludes the series that aired last year, and the return of Dog Squad Puppy School and Dog Squad on a 7.30 Tuesday double-bill. New episodes of Border Security (9.00 Tuesdays) will follow the premiere of local luxury lodge showcase, Lap of Luxury, while resuming Sundays will be Q+A With Jack Tame (9am) and Hyundai Country Calendar (7.00) …

➢➢ The network will premiere the rebuilding-of-Christchurch documentary, When a City Rises — The People’s Story, on February 14 (8.30). It’s the feature-length sequel to When a City Falls …

➢➢ The same night it will premiere at 11.05 The Nest. Despite the late slot, it’s a highly acclaimed surrogacy drama from Three Girls writer Nicole Taylor. The series earned a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where it was summed up thus: “Though its endgame is still unclear, The Nest‘s many twists and turns are intriguing enough to keep viewers hooked” …

➢➢ Returning the same week will be Married at First Sight Australia: The Grand Reunion (Three, 7.00 Sunday), NCIS (Three, 9.00 Tuesday)  NZ Hunter Adventures (Duke, 8.30 Wednesday) and The Rookie (Three, 9.00 Wednesday) …

➢➢ Three’s redux also will include the premiere of London Zoo: An Extraordinary Year (9.00 Monday), which reveals how the zoo’s critters and keeper coped during lockdown. Said The Telegraph: “This charming film was lifted out of the ordinary by the unique nature of the circumstances it documented and the absorbing stories it told. Narration by Stephen Fry, though a tad twee at times, added an extra sheen of quality” …

➢➢ Prime also will overhaul its schedule with the return of Mayday (8.30 Sunday) and The Great British Bake Off (7.30 Tuesday), the double-billing of FBI and FBI: Most Wanted (8.55 Tuesday), and new episodes of Pawn Stars (7.30 Friday) and Border Security [Australia] (8.090 Friday) …

➢➢ It also will premiere the documentary series, Watergate (8.30 Saturday). Quipped The Guardian: “The fad for true-crime documentaries continues with this investigation into the grisliest and most unpunished true crime of all. In the course of a mammoth, horribly absorbing four-hour film from Charles Ferguson we are immersed in a world of milky TV news footage, big lapels, bulbous combovers, dirty tricks, sweat, jowls and guilt. It was a time when the nation learned its president had compiled a deadly serious “enemies list” that included Paul Newman. This was the time when the US felt its face get covered by a five o’clock shadow of shame” …

➢➢ On or near the red sofa on the February 18 broadcast of The Graham Norton Show (Three, 8.30) will be Carey Mulligan, Neil Patrick Harris, James Norton, Ian Wright, Camille Cottin and Celeste …

➢➢ There will be two network movie premieres in the week starting February 13: A Star is Born (TVNZ 2, 9.00 Sunday) and McQueen (Maori TV, 8.30 Monday). Other HD coming attractions will include:

• Pete’s Dragon (TVNZ 2, 5.05 Saturday)
• Shrek 2 (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• Mr & Mrs Smith (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Saturday)
• Fatal Attraction (Duke, 8.30 Saturday)
• The Trip to Spain (Maori TV, 8.40)
• Fury (Three, 8.45 Saturday)
• Money Monster (TVNZ 2, 11.00 Saturday)
• Darkest Hour (Three, 11.20 Saturday)
• Black Mass (TVNZ 2, 1am Sunday)
• My Secret Valentine (TVNZ 2, 12.15 Sunday)
• Blue Valentine (Maori TV, 8.30 Sunday)
• Mission Impossible — Fallout (Three, 8.50 Sunday)
• The Dictator (Duke, 9.35 Sunday)
• The Shining (TVNZ 2, 11.25 Sunday)
• The Expendables 3 (Prime, 8.30 Monday)
• Days of Thunder (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• The Medallion (Three, 7.30 Friday)
• I Love You, Man (Duke, 8.30 Friday)
• The Matrix Reloaded (TVNZ 2, 8.35 Friday).