HD Heads-Up: July 27

➢ TVNZ 1 will resurrect Maigret in the Sunday Theatre slot on August 7, when Rowan Atkinson’s French sleuth investigates the murder of a diamond merchant. The Guardian compared Atkinson to “Walter Matthau restraining his comedy chops to play Gordon Brown” but thought Night at the Crossroads “cleverly plotted” while Metro reported the social media praise as “wildly different to the lukewarm response” for the first Maigret case, Maigret Sets a Trap. The fourth in the series, Maigret in Montmarte, will screen this year in the UK …

➢ The Amazing Race will bow out with a two-hour season final from 9.00 on August 2, which will push TVNZ 2’s The Big Bang Theory back to 8.00 and 2 Broke Girls to 8.30; TBBF fans should note a doube-ep repeat will air from 5.30 on August 11 instead of Home and Away …

➢ Also ending that week are Lucifer, Grey’s Anatomy, One Born Every Minute and Hoarding: Buried Alive while returning off-peak for its season two premiere is Supergirl (TVNZ 2, 12.35pm Saturday) …

➢ 7 Days will mark its 250th episode on August 10 (Three, 9.00), with a special it record-ed in Hamilton, following Jono and Ben’s return for a new season 7.30 Thursday …

➢ Prime is replacing Wheel of Fortune with Jeopardy at 6.00 and launch a 6.30 week-night run of Pawn Stars from August 7. Prime hasn’t confirmed if Wheel of Fortune is being ditched for good — a publicist would only describe it as “a simple schedule change”. It seems unlikely Prime would dump the game show given it was secured through its CBS Studios International TV deal …

➢ The August 6 network movie premiere of Fantastic Four (Three, 8.30) will go head-to-head with a re-run of The Expendables 3 (TVNZ 2, 8.30). Other HD coming attractions that week include:

• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (TVNZ 2, 5.25 Saturday)
• Wild Hogs (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Ice Age (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• A Million Ways to Die in the West (Three, 8.35 Saturday)
• Jackie Chan’s First Strike (TVNZ 2, 8.55 Saturday)
• Our Idiot Brother (TVNZ 2, 10.25 Saturday)
• The Big Wedding (TVNZ 1, 10.45 Saturday)
• Closed Circuit (Three, 10.45 Saturday)
• Hitman (Three, 8.30 Thursday)
• Alex Cross (Prime, 9.35 Friday)

➢ Guesting this week and next on Prime’s The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon:

• John Boyega, Rhett & Link and musical guest Kygo and Ellie Goulding (10.30 tonight)
• Michael Strahan, Jill Kargman and musical guest Slayer (11.35 tomorrow)
• David Spade, Desus & Mero, and Penn & Teller (10.30 Monday)
• Idris Elba, Ali Wentworth and musical guest Tame Impala (11.35 Tuesday).