HD Heads-Up: February 18-24

➢➢ Three is radically overhauling Saturday nights from February 11 with two new series and the return of NCIS, in which Gary Cole takes over from Mark Harmon, and NCIS: LA. This marks a huge departure from previous years, when the procedurals traditionally aired on Tuesdays. But last year TVNZ 2 challenged their legacy by programming NCIS: Hawai’i and FBI: International against them. The good news for fans is the new strategy means both series are returning for their latest seasons earlier than usual; the bad news is S14 will be LA’s last and CBS has yet to renew the parent show for S21 …

➢➢ Leading into the dynamic duo will be Animal Embassy (7.00), a nature series set in a Canary Islands animal park, and Dream Listings (8.30), a Channel Nine series about a “‘barefoot real estate agent’ selling multimillion dollar properties” in Byron Bay …

➢➢ TVNZ 1 will premiere S3 of Selling Houses Australia (8.30 Friday) and resume four of its most popular staples: Hyundai Country Calendar (7.00 Sunday), Sunday (7.30 Sunday), Fair Go (7.30 Monday) and Highway Patrol (8.00 Monday), Meanwhile, Monday’s Frozen Planet will shift to the later time of 8.30 as the lead-in to newcomer Here Come the Gypsies (9.45), a Channel 5 series which controversially “reveals the hidden world” of Gypsies and Travellers in the UK …

➢➢ TVNZ 2 is refreshing Sunday nights with Domino Masters (6.30) and Caught on Dashcam (7.30). Decider recommended the former, which Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) fronts, as a reality competition “where people make elaborate Domino landscapes and then make them tumble … a whole lot of fun to watch, doesn’t dwell in the boring stuff, and boasts an all-in host in Stonestreet” …

➢➢ TVNZ 2 also will premiere S3 of TVNZ+ favourite Educators (10.25 Monday) while ending their runs will be One Night In …, The Capture, Swamp People – Serpent Invasion and The Watch …

➢➢ Salma Hayek, Julianne Moore, Johannes Radebe and Shania Twain will guest on the February 23 broadcast of The Graham Norton Show (Three, 8.30) …

➢➢ HD coming attractions for the third week of February will include the free-to-air premiere of Birds of Prey (Three, 8.30 Sunday) as well as:

• Jurassic World (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Lassie Come Home (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Saturday)
• Sex and the City (Eden, 8.30 Saturday)
• Memoirs of an Invisible Man (Whakaata Māori, 8.40 Saturday)
• Home Again (TVNZ 2, 9.15 Saturday)
• The Mummy Returns (Duke, 9.25 Saturday)
• Eye in the Sky (TVNZ 2, 11.05 Saturday)
• Unforgettable (TVNZ 2, 1am Sunday)
• Aliens in the Attic (TVNZ 2, 3.55 Sunday)
• Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Sunday)
• Argo (Eden, 8.30 Sunday)
• I Am Not a Witch (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Sunday)
• Annabelle 2 – Creation (TVNZ 2, 10.50 Sunday)
• A Boy Called Piano (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday)
• American Gangster (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• A Ghost Story (Whakaata Māori, 9.00 Wednesday)
• Anchorman (Duke, 9.25 Friday).