HD Heads-Up: June 21-27

Three of TV3’s most popular procedurals end the week starting June 21: The Blacklist, NCIS and NCIS: LA.

The NCIS finale also is notable for paying tribute to semi-regular Ralph Waite, who died in February at age 85.

“We’ve talked about [the episode] since Ralph’s passing, and I think we’ve come up with a really great crime story that will bookend into the passing of Jackson Gibbs,” executive producer Gary Glasberg told Entertainment Weekly.

“That’s going to be a really emotional storyline that Mark Harmon has been involved with since day one.”

It caps a season that last month included a backdoor pilot to a second franchise spin-off, NCIS: New Orleans, starring Scott Bakula.

The newcomer spearheads what Variety dubbed a “spin-off invasion”, with sister shows for CSI, Arrow and Breaking Bad in the works for 2014/15.

“There’s nothing new about the concept of spinoffs, but as the crowded TV landscape makes launching a series increasingly difficult, the built-in appeal offered by a known quantity (like NBC’s looming revival Heroes: Reborn or ABC’s big-to-small screen experiment Marvel’s Agent Carter) is proving more appealing to networks than ever before,” the trade paper reports.

“Just as every movie studio wants at least one powerhouse franchise to call its own, TV networks are embracing the value of successful brands.”

But the strategy doesn’t always work: an NCIS: LA spin-off, Red, never got the green light after being tested as a backdoor pilot and the CW network passed on Supernatural spin-off Bloodlines.

The third week in June’s also notable for extra-long editions of Britain’s Got Talent on Tuesday (TV One, 8.30-10.30), My Kitchen Rules on Wednesday (TV2, 7.30-9.00, pre-empting The Big Bang Theory) and House Rules on Thursday (TV3, 7.30-9.30).

In other HD programming news of note for the week starting June 21:

• Trophy Wife ends its run on Monday (TV2, 8.40) after rating solidly here but not in the US
• Ed Sheeran plays himself on Shortland Street (TV2, 7.00 Monday-Friday)
• Michael J Fox guest stars on Tuesday’s The Good Wife (TV3, 11.00)
• Dawn French, Kirsten Dunst, Bear Grylls and Eurovision Song Contest 2014 winner Conchita Wurst guest on Friday’s Graham Norton Show (TV3, 8.30)
• Coming attractions: Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement (TV2, 7.00 Saturday), Love & Other Drugs (TV3, 8.30 Saturday), The Do-Deca-Pentathlon (TV3, 10.50 Saturday), Deadly Spa (TV2, 12.35am Monday) and The Cold Light of Day (TV2, 9.05 Friday).