HD Heads-Up: January 16 – 22

January 7, 2021 0 Comments

➢➢ One of UK TV’s longest-running series marks its 20th anniversary in a retrospective series that will air 8.35 Wednesdays on TVNZ 1 from January 20. Location Location Location: 20 Years and Counting has Phil Spencer and Kirstie Allsopp looking back over two decades of boom and bust. Yet whatever the state of the market, their ratings have held up. Spencer told The Times: “When the market rises 10 per cent a year, watching shows about housing made us feel good. But then, in the 2008 downturn, ratings went up because people wanted to know what to do” …

➢➢The Times also couldn’t resist citing a scathing review of the first Location Location Location episode by rival paper The Guardian: “Critic Mark Lawson called the show ‘structurally weak’ and said: ‘[Don’t] bet your house on this being a hit.’” Not only have Phil and Kirstie clocked up 237 episodes since then but they were making season 37 when Counting went to air in August …

➢➢ Drop a Stone in a Month (TVNZ 1, 7.35 Thursdays from January 21) originally was called How to Lose a Stone for Christmas, and could be just the solution you need to get back in shape for the new year. The controversial Channel 5 series invited 12 people to test extreme weight-loss programmes under the supervision of a GP. Fat seems to be the new reality fad, with Channel 4’s similarly entitled and themed Lose a Stone in 21 Days still to come …

➢➢ Team Cricket and Team Rugby will face off in the T20 Black Clash Live (TVNZ 1, 6.30 Friday). Coaches Sir Graham Henry and Stephen Fleming will lead an all-star roster of players, including: Richie McCaw, Israel Dagg, Jordie Barrett, Aaron Smith, Andy Ellis, Will Jordan, Grant Elliott, Daniel Vettori, Peter Fulton, Jacob Oram, Kyle Mills, Craig McMillan and Nathan McCullum …

➢➢ There also will be more Women’s & Men’s Super Smash Cricket on January 16, when TVNZ 1 will air the Canterbury Kings-Wellington Firebirds game from 11am, and Duke the Canterbury Magicians-Wellington Blaze clash from 2.50 …

➢➢ Returning for new episodes will be Taskmaster UK (Duke, 8.30 Sundays from January 17), The Project (Three, 7.00 weeknights from January 18), The Crowd Goes Wild (Prime, 7.00 weekdays from January 18) and The Hotel Inspector Returns (TVNZ 1, 8.35 Saturdays from January 16) while ending their runs will be The Sounds and Piri’s Tiki Tour …

➢➢ Network movie premieres for the week starting January 16 will include Searching (Three, 8.55 Saturday), Table 19 (TVNZ 2, 9.00 Saturday), Capharnaum (Maori TV, 8.30 Sunday) and The Land of the Enlightened (Maori TV, 8.30 Monday). Among the other HD coming attractions will be: