HD Heads-Up: January 18 – 24

➢➢ Three will start to roll out its 2020 season in the week starting January 18, with the return of NCIS for its 17th season (8.30 Tuesdays) and new-look Thursday and Friday nights. The network’s switching long-standing Friday night staple The Graham Norton Show to 8.35 Thursdays, ahead of the 9.35 premiere of a dating show with a dance twist, Flirty Dancing. The Thursday night movie will switch to 7.30 Fridays, with The Project being cut back from an hour to half-an-hour …

➢➢ The Norton shift isn’t surprising given the chat show suffered some of its most lacklustre ratings last year opposite TVNZ 2’s 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. Guesting on Norton for its first Thursday broadcast will be Dame Judi Dench, Jennifer Hudson, Hugh Grant, Matthew McConaughey, Michael Buble and Coldplay …

➢➢ Flirty Dancing is the US version of the Channel 4 series that The Guardian dubbed “a fantastically gaudy collage of other television shows”. It went to air last month on Fox, where Esquire claimed it was “proof that America can suck the fun out of anything” …

➢➢ Three also will launch All New Survivor: David vs. Goliath on January 18. While season 37 is “all new” to Three, it aired 16 months ago in the US, where S40 is soon to debut. After years of trying to make Survivor succeed in different slots, the network is now abandoning it to 3.30 Saturdays …

➢➢ Prime will screen late-night highlights of the Australian Open from January 21 and live primetime coverage of Blackcaps vs India T20 on January 24 …

➢➢ Also new that week will be Location Location Location (TVNZ 1, 7.30 Wednesdays) and a belated Call the Midwife Christmas Special (TVNZ 1, 9.15 Friday) while ending their runs will be Pilgrimage – The Road to Rome, Australian Survivor, Magical Land of Oz, Traffic Cops, Inside the Ritz Hotel London, The Story of the Royals and The Radical Story of Patty Hearst …

➢➢ The week’s sole network movie premiere will be Ride Along 2 (Three, 8.30 Monday). Other HD coming attractions will include:

• Home (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• The Switch (TVNZ 2, 8.35 Saturday)
• Happy Gilmore (Three, 8.50 Saturday)
• Single White Female (Duke, 9.25 Saturday)
• A Teacher’s Obsession (Three, 10.50 Saturday)
• Hardcore Henry (TVNZ 2, 12.35am Sunday)
• Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment (TVNZ 2, 2.10am Sunday)
• Finding Dory (TVNZ, 7.00 Sunday)
• Furious 7 (Three, 8.30 Sunday)
• Wedding Crashers (Prime, 8.30 Sunday)
• Logan (TVNZ 2, 8.45 Sunday)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (TVNZ 2, 11.20 Sunday)
• The Dark Knight Rises (Prime, 8.30 Monday)
• Just Go With It (TVNZ 2, 9.10 Monday)
• A Good Day to Die Hard (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Tuesday)
• Flatliners (Duke, 10.30 Tuesday)
• No. 2 (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Wednesday)
• Friends With Benefits (Three, 8.35 Wednesday)
• My Big Fat Greek Wedding (TVNZ 2, 9.15 Wednesday)
• War of the Worlds (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Thursday)
• Keeping Up With the Joneses (Three, 7.30 Friday)
• I, Spy (Duke, 8.30 Friday)
• Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (TVNZ 2, 8.40 Friday)
• Hancock (Duke, 10.15 Friday).