HD Heads-Up: July 6 – 12

➢➢ From July 6-7, TVNZ 1 will sweeten its weekend line-up with three local series: Extreme Chocolate Makers (7.00 Saturdays), That’s a Bit Racist (8.30 Sundays) and the return of Anika Moa Unleashed (9.30 Saturdays). Extreme Chocolate Makers will showcase the masterpieces of an elite group of chocolatiers, from a 3D chocolate map of Croatia, to a 4.5ft Big Ben; Racist will test the science and mechanics of how judgement and prejudice work. Promises the publicity: “The results will make some people uncomfortable but there are also plenty of laughs in this audit of kiwi attitudes to multiculturalism” …

➢➢ Chocolate Makers will be the lead-in to The World’s Best, a global talent quest hosted by James Corden, which will air 7.30 Fridays and Saturdays from July 5, six months after it launched on CBS. “The show had a great start because it followed the Super Bowl,” TV Series Finale reports. “In its regular Wednesday night time slot, the ratings have been far from impressive and in some cases, have been dismal.” Variety’s verdict: “Even when the acts are half as stunning as the show manically promises, there’s so much exhaustive (figurative) tap-dancing in between that keeps The World’s Best from truly taking off” …

➢➢ Another NZ On Air-funded newcomer, The Checkup (TVNZ 1, 8.00 Mondays from July 8), will delve into the world of medicine from a millennial’s perspective. It will be presented by three young doctors who put “old-school medical myths under a new-school microscope, debunking what we think we know to be true about medicine” …

➢➢ Prime also will revamp its weekend programming from July 6, with the return of Tradezone Addicted to Fishing (5.00 Saturdays), and the premieres of Secrets of the World’s Super Skyscrapers (7.30 Sundays) and Concorde: The Supersonic Race (8.30 Sundays). The former investigates how the limits of engineering, technology and design are being pushed to build taller, stronger, smarter and more luxurious skyscrapers; the latter recreates the great scientific and human epic feat of the fastest civil airliner to date, with the participation of test pilots, a mechanic, engineers and Concorde pilots …

➢➢ Duke will add to its assembly line of motoring shows Inside Bentley: A Great British Motor Car (9.00 Saturdays from July 6). The Channel 4 series goes behind the doors of this quintessentially British institution to see a new supercar go from paper to production, the much anticipated Bentayga …

➢➢  Also premiering the same week will be Islands in Time (Three, 7.30 Sundays), which explores the islands of Southeast Asia, and two Maori TV documentaries: They Went to Stop the Bomb, the story of the protest voyage to Mururoa in 1973, highlighting the plight of the people on a nearby atoll (7.30 Monday); and How To Change The World, the story of the pioneers who founded Greenpeace and defined the modern green movement (8.30 Tuesday) …

➢➢ TVNZ 2 is demoting the final season of Lethal Weapon to late-night. Season four, which will introduce an ex-CIA ace as Murtagh’s new partners, will screen 11.25 Mondays from July 8. Also back for a late-night run will be Chicago P.D.: Three will air season four 10.50 Sundays from July 7 …

➢➢ HD coming attractions for the week starting July 6 include the network movie premieres of Logan Lucky (Three, 8.30 Thursday) and Grandma (Maori TV, 8.30 Sunday), plus:

• Puss in Boots (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Hook (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• Little Women (Maori TV, 7.00 Saturday)
• Expendables 3 (TVNZ 2, 8.35 Saturday)
• Hot Fuzz (Three, 9.40 Saturday)
• Consumed (Three, 11.50 Saturday)
• Man of the House (TVNZ 2, 12.40am Sunday)
• College Road Trip (TVNZ 2, midday Sunday)
• National Treasure II: Book of Secrets (TVNZ 2, 8.10 Sunday)
• Jurassic World (Three, 8.30 Sunday)
• Intruders (TVNZ 2, 11.30 Sunday)
• Big Driver (Prime, 12.05am Monday)
• White House Down (Prime, 8.30 Monday)
• Spanglish (Duke, 8.30 Friday)
• Stepmom (Maori TV, 8.30 Friday).