HD Heads-Up: June 20 – 26

➢➢ Following its success with 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, TVNZ 2 will try to make the UK version of Would I Lie to You? just as popular. The panel show originally aired on TV3, which also commissioned a local series fronted by Paul Henry. The Rob Brydon-fronted original was to have aired 8.30 Wednesdays from June 24, as the replacement for Have You Been Paying Attention? but has been postponed because of the network’s last-minute stripping of My Kitchen Rules: The Rivals …

➢➢ TVNZ 1 also has delayed the premiere of Beat the Chasers. The spin-off from top-rating quiz show The Chase was to have debuted on June 23, as the successor to Eat Well for Less NZ. But the network now will screen new episodes of the original Eat Well for Less. It will resume from episode seven of season five, which aired 20 months ago in the UK …

➢➢ Reprisal (TVNZ 1, 11.10 Mondays from June 22) makes it to air six months after its on-demand premiere. About the victim of a gang rape who seeks retribution, it stars Abigail Spencer (Suits, Timeless) and earned mixed reviews in the US, with the New York Times summing it up at a “combination of violent action, sentimental fantasy, literary pretension and periodic slapstick humour”. Hulu has opted not to renew it …

➢➢ Prime will resume Prime Rocks (8.30 Wednesdays from June 24) with the 2004 tribute Peter, Paul & Mary – Carry It On. It’s part of a scheduling facelift that includes the premiere of a series about a Maori-owned, family-run business Honey Wars (8.00 Sundays), the post-SoHo 8.30 Sunday-Tuesday stripping of the “half sci-fi dystopia, half kitchen-sink drama” Years and Years, and the return of  Landscape Artist of the Year (6.00 Saturdays) …

➢➢ Three will use two specials to pad out the schedule until its launch of Big Brother Australia: A Lego Brickumentary (7.30 Monday), which chronicles the Danish icon’s history and its eclectic aficionados; and Bondi Rescue: The Kathmandu Coast to Coast (Three, 7.30 Tuesday), a one-off special in which Bondi Rescue’s Andrew ‘Reidy’ Reid and Ryan Clarke challenge “rugby legend Richie McCaw and the world” as they attempt an epic 243 km race from one side of New Zealand to the other …

➢➢ Another special, Wrestling one the Edge of the World (Duke, 10.00 Sunday), will showcase some of the best NZ and Australian matches from this year’s Southern Pro Wrestling NZ tour …

➢➢  Also new that week will be the two-part documentary White Lions – Born Wild (Three, 3.20 Saturday) while ending their runs will be Britain’s Got Talent, Lego Masters Australia, The Luminaries, High School Mums and Rhys Darby: Big in Japan …

➢➢ Coming attractions in HD for the week starting June 20 will include:

• The Ant Bully (TVNZ 2, 7.00)
• The Karate Kid III (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• Eagles vs Shark (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Saturday)
• Bram Stoker’s Dracula (Duke, 8.30 Saturday)
• There’s Something About Mary (Three, 9.10 Saturday)
• Anomalisa (Maori TV, 9.30 Saturday)
• Joe Dirt (TVNZ 2, 10.15 Saturday)
• This Is Where I Leave You (TVNZ 2, midnight Saturday)
• San Andreas (TVNZ 2, 8.10 Sunday)
• King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (Three, 8.25 Sunday)
• Trumbo (Maori TV, 8.30)
• Nightmare on Elm Street (TVNZ 2, 11.05 Sunday)
• Dragon Wars (Duke, 8/30 Tuesday)
• Premium Rush (TVNZ 2, 8.40 Thursday)
• The Great Wall (Three, 7.30 Friday).