HD Heads-Up: May 1 – 7

April 22, 2021 0 Comments

➢➢ Three will double-bill new seasons of 9-1-1 and spin-off 9-1-1: Lone Star on Monday nights from May 3. S4 of the former will air at 9.10 and S2 of the latter at 10.00. They spearhead a strongly constructed weeknight schedule, with NCIS and NCIS: LA screening Tuesdays, a beach-themed Wednesday with Bay Patrol, Bondi Rescue and Hawaii Five-O, and a fair-dinkum Kiwi block on Thursdays, with 7 Days, New Zealand Today, the 9.30 S2 premiere of Second Chance Charlie and a S3 re-run of Funny Girls …

➢➢ TVNZ 2 will dress up its Saturday night slate with the May 1 premiere of RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under. It will screen at 8.30, in-between movies and two hours after its OnDemand debut. Hosted by RuPaul Charles, with Drag Race vet Michelle Visage and comedian Rhys Nicholson (Patriot Brains) on the main judging panel, the eight-part series pits 10 queens from across Australia and NZ against one another …

➢➢ Topping the bill of Best Foods Comedy Gala 2021 (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Sunday) will be Justine Smith, Ben Hurley, Tofiga Fepulea’i, Chris Parker, Angella Dravid, Rhys Darby, Urzila Carlson, Guy Montgomery, Cori Gonzalez Macuer, Nick Rado and Ruby Esther …

➢➢ Prime also will spruce up weekends with three new series: Celebrity Trawlermen, in which Shane Lynch, Ben Cohen, and Anthony Worrall Thompson find themselves all at sea for 10 days on a fishing trawler (6.00 Saturday); Rescue: River Deep Mountain High, an ITV series about rescue workers (7.00 Saturday); and Murder on Middle Beach, an intriguing but overlong four-part HBO documentary in which a Connecticut filmmaker investigates the cold-case murder of his mother (8.30 Sunday) …

➢➢ I Am Not a Rapist (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Monday) profiles three young men who were falsely accused of rape, examining the consequences of the allegations on their lives. “The documentary was strong on the emotional toll this all took, not just on the young men but on their families,” said The Telegraph …

➢➢ In an ironic scheduling clash, TVNZ 2’s re-run of the live-action movie The Jungle Book (6.30 Saturday) will overlap with TVNZ 1’s Our World documentary, Meet the Bears (7.35), which explores how bears across the world have used their brains, brawn and a remarkable ability to adapt to overcome the challenges of finding food, raising cubs, confronting rivals and habitat loss …

➢➢ Ending their runs will be Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond The Lobby, Alex Rider, Ambulance, Ireland’s Youngest Grandparents and Grand Designs UK while graduating from TVNZ OnDemand to TVNZ 1 will be Anika Moa Reunited (10.45 Sunday) …

➢➢ There will be four network movie premieres in the first week of May: After (Three, 8.55 Saturday), Escape Room (Three, 8.40 Sunday), Cold War (Maori TV, 8.30 Sunday) and Ophir (Maori TV, 8.30 Monday). Other HD coming attractions will include: