HD Heads-Up: May 16

TV3’s The Block NZ returns on May 29, when it will square off against TV2’s My Kitchen Rules Australia not only on Sundays but also on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 7.30. TV3 says the twist with season five, Girls vs Boys, will be replacing couples with teams of best mates — two of women and two of men — who ­will compete to transform four 1980s townhouses in Auckland’s Meadowbank …

MKR remains one of TVNZ’s most popular shows, with last Monday’s episode averaging 10.5% of 18-49 year-olds, which was a 27% channel share of TV2’s target audience. Lead-out First Dates Australia’s also performing well, with last week’s episode winning the 8.30 hour with a 7.3 rating and 16 share of 18-49s. TV2 also continues to dominate Wednesday and Thursday nights …

TVNZ reports more than 8000 people have applied to compete on Survivor NZ, which it reckons is “enough potential castaways to cast the next 10 series”. Seven Sharp reporter Matt Chisholm will host the Down Under version of the US phenomenon that’s just started its 32nd season on TV3 (4.25 weekdays) …

Game of Thrones fans can enjoy a double-dose of Jon Snow tonight when the latest episode (SoHo, 8.30) precedes star Kit Harrington’s appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon (Prime, 10.30). He reveals the one person outside the production that knew of his character’s fate: The policeman who let him off on a speeding ticket to find out, “Is Jon Snow dead?” …

The rest of the week’s Tonight Show guests include: Rose Byrne and Blake Shelton (tonight); Andy Samberg, Gigi Hadid and The Kills (Tuesday); Simon Cowell, Josh Gad and Anthony Bourdain & Mario Batali (Wednesday); Zac Efron, Carmelo Anthony and OneRepublic (Thursday); and Seth Rogen, Fred Armisen and Corinne Bailey Rae (Friday) …