HD Heads-Up: March 14

The Americans returns for its fifth season tonight (SoHo, 9.30). It scored a 94 aggregate  on Metacritc, with the likes of The Hollywood Reporter declaring it “continues along the same ground it always has: It’s extremely well-constructed, with slow-burning storylines that are paying off in superb dramatic depth; it boasts consistently top-tier acting from stars Keri Russell, Mathew Rhys, Noah Emmerich, Holly Taylor and more; it has artfully crafted visuals that emphasise the mundane work of everyday spies while simultaneously revealing things about the characters” …

TVNZ 1 will premiere series two of The Missing on March 28. It will air 9.30 Tuesdays after new episodes of I Am Innocent. Said The Guardian: “As a crime thriller, about an investigation and hunt, it is a thing of great complexity – one that seems to have been checked and oiled with extraordinary – military even – precision. It is utterly gripping and intriguing, and will have you lying awake puzzling and worrying” …

Three is pre-empting Saturday’s scheduled 7.00 re-run of How to Train Your Dragon for Footrot Flats: A Dog’s Tale, to commemorate the death of Dog creator Murray Ball. Unfortunately, it won’t be in HD, so fans should suss out the 25th anniversary Blu-ray, which makes the 2006 DVD look positively dog-eared and includes a dag of a writers’ commentary by Ball and Tom Scott. Dragon has been rescheduled for March 25 …

TVNZ 2 will screen the free-to-air premiere of American Sniper on March 26. It’s one of two FTA movie premieres on the network that week, the second being The Nut Job (7.00 Saturday). It will also screen in HD re-runs of The Expendables 2 (9.15 Saturday), The Man (11.15 Saturday), Killer Elite (12.45am Sunday) and the inferior re-make of Carrie (12.10am Monday) …

Prime is replacing Thursday’s Wheel of Fortune with live coverage of the Auckland Cup from 6.00. Meanwhile, the first episode of Jeopardy! (6.30 Thursdays) to feature Cindy Stowell will air on March 23. The 41-year-old from Austin, Texas, achieved her dream of competing on Jeopardy! before losing her battle with cancer, as the New York Post reported …

Guesting this week on Prime’s The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon are: Kiefer Sutherland, Priyanka Chopra, and Rebel and a Basketcase with Evan Rachel Wood (11.30 tonight); Adam Levine, Josh Gad and Maroon 5 (11.30 tomorrow); and Ice Cube, Paris Jackson and Khalid (11.30 Thursday) …