HD Heads-Up: June 1 – 7

➢➢ The networks will celebrate Queen’s Birthday Weekend with a raft of specials and movie premieres. Two of the specials will be tributes to kings of a different sort: Muhammad Ali and Elvis Presley. What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali (Prime, 9.30 Monday) is an acclaimed, Antoine (The Magnificent Seven) Fuqua-directed HBO documentary about the boxer that will air on the third anniversary of his death; Elvis All Star Tribute (TVNZ 1, 7.00 Sunday) is a two-hour recreation of “The King’s” legendary 1968 comeback concert. It combines archival footage with performances by Jennifer Lopez, Ed Sheeran, Blake Shelton, Shawn Mendes, Alessia Cara, Post Malone, Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Darius Rucker, John Fogerty, Kelsea Ballerini, Mac Davis, John Legend, Pistol Annies, Adam Lambert, Little Big Town, Yolanda Adams, and Josh Groban …

➢➢ Heading the free-to-air movie premieres will be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday), War for the Planet of the Apes  (TVNZ 2, 8.45 Sunday), A Royal Night Out (TVNZ 1, 8.55 Sunday) and Hologram for the King (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Monday) …

➢➢ Other HD coming attractions that week will include:

• Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• A Cowgirl’s Story (Maori TV, 7.00 Saturday)
• The Hangover – Part II (TVNZ 2, 9.00 Saturday)
• Rambo (Duke, 9.30 Saturday)
• 47 Ronin (Three, 9.45 Saturday)
• Ocean’s Twelve (TVNZ 2, 11.05 Saturday)
• Evil Dead (Duke, 11.10 Saturday)
• Last Vegas (Three, 11.55 Saturday)
• The Pacifier (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Sunday)
• Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (Three, 8.05 Sunday)
• Far From the Madding Crowd (Maori TV, 8.30 Sunday)
• Insidious – Chapter 2 (TVNZ 2, 12.25am Monday)
• The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo (Maori TV, 8.30 Monday)
• Iron Man 2 (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• Men in Black (Prime, 7.30 Wednesday)
• Galaxy Quest (Duke, 8.30 Friday)
• 12 Rounds (Maori TV, 8.30 Friday) …

➢➢ As longtime ScreenScribe contributor Leo astutely speculated, Three will fast-track the latest season of Love Island UK to air 4.30/5.00 weekdays from June 5. It’s the first in the franchise to air on Three, with Australian, US and NZ versions to follow. The show was a big online hit for TVNZ Ondemand last year and should provide Newshub Live with one of its strongest lead-ins yet, although it will face tough TVNZ competition from The Chase and Home and Away …

➢➢ Prime will launch two documentary series in the week starting June 1: Russia From Above (7.30 Sundays) and A Very British Country House (7.30 Tuesdays). The latter is set during the busiest summer season of one of the world’s most exclusive country house hotels, Cliveden House, when the arrival of Royal bride-to-be Meghan Markle provides unprecedented publicity for the playground of the aristocracy and super-rich (the Daily Mail thought it “as fawning as any ‘lifestyle blog’”); Russia is a spectacular HD showcase of the federation’s landscapes, cities, wildlife, deserts and taiga forests …

➢➢ Also new to Prime will be Penn & Teller: Fool Us (7.30 Fridays), in which aspiring magicians perform their best trick to try and fool the world-famous team of Penn and Teller …

➢➢ Three will screen episodes of Lego Masters Australia and Magnum P.I. two nights in a row: in their normal Wednesday slots and on Thursday as well …

➢➢ Appearing on the June 7 broadcast of The Graham Norton Show (Three, 8.00) will be: Will Smith, Naomi Scott, Kevin Hart and Octavia Spencer …

➢➢ TVNZ 2 will burn off late-night For the People (11.20 Mondays/11.25 Tuesdays), a courtroom drama set in New York City’s Southern District of New York Federal Court. Created by Scandal writer Paul William Davies, Entertainment Weekly thought it “formulaic in the best way possible way” while the New York Post said it “doesn’t completely suck“. Season two ended this week in the US …

➢➢ Returning for new seasons will be Instant Hotel (TVNZ 2, 7.10 Monday), Doctor Doctor (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Thursday) and Highway Patrol (TVNZ 2, 8.00 Thursday) while ending their runs will be Manifest, Anthems: New Zealand’s Iconic Hits, MotherFatherSon, Emergency Call, The Force, Lost & Found, Location Location Location, The Bay, Jamie’s Quick & Easy Food, The Hotel Inspector and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown.