HD Heads-Up: February 2

As expected, TV2 will use the latest season of The Simpsons to bed in its new-look Sunday evening line-up. It premieres in the 7.00 slot on February 14, following the return of Thunderbirds Are Go at 6.00 and the 6.30 premiere of NZ’s own animated comedy, The Barefoot Bandits, described as a family adventure about youngsters discovering the secrets of their island home. Among those voicing the characters are Rhys Darby and Temuera Morrison. The first episode of The Simpsons’ 27th season guest stars Girls’ Lena Dunham and Adam Driver ahead of their show’s return to SoHo on February 25 …

Still no word on when TV2 will kick off its Simpsons re-runs but it will strategically maximise the appeal of The Big Bang Theory in the week starting February 13 with two episodes on Wednesday and a second double-episode on Friday, where season eight re-runs will be paired from 7.30-8.30 in addition to the show’s Friday late-night slot. It’s also giving the underperforming Grandfathered a rest and double-billing new eps of The Middle from 7.30-8.30 on Monday …

TV2 is keen to give its new twice-weekly drama Filthy Rich the strongest launch it can, hence using The Middle as its hour-long lead-in on Monday [February 15] and following it with the mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead at 9.30. Tuesday’s Filthy Rich will be preceded by the premiere of Kiwi hospital half-hour The Big Ward and the return of RBT from 7.30-8.30 while taking over the 9.30 hour is season two of How to Get Away With Murder …

Episode two of TV1’s Blindspot finished behind TV3’s repeat of Star Trek on Sunday, averaging only a 3.8 rating/14.3 channel share in the network’s target audience, 25-54 year-olds. That was down sharply on its premiere a week early partly because of Prime’s HSBC World Sevens Coverage, which out-rated it …

Heroin: Cape Code, USA, an HBO documentary that focuses on the Massachusetts community as a microcosm of small-town America’s heroin epidemic, will premiere March 1 on SoHo. Said The Boston Globe when it screened on HBO in December: “Quite simply, the film, directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Okazaki, will break your heart. As it focuses on eight young people dealing with a heroin habit, as well as a group of parents of addicts, it will evoke your deepest sympathy. And it will open your eyes, as these kids talk remarkably freely about their love and hatred for the drug” …