HD Heads-Up: November 18-24

➢➢ Wonders of the World I Can’t See (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Monday) is a new twist on celebrity travelogues: not only is stand-up comic Chris McCausland a reluctant traveller (in the mode of Karl Pilkington), but also he’s blind. In each of the four episodes, he visits landmarks with a celebrity guest who provides a humourous description of their iconic environment. The Channel 4 series opens with Chris and comedian Harry Hill trying their hand at Olympic sports and pottery in Athens …

➢➢ “They quickly fall into an odd-couple routine that relies on McCausland being grumbly and reticent and Hill working out how to get his holidaymate involved without simply explaining what’s in front of them,” The Guardian says. “At its best, Wonders of the World I Can’t See reveals a more thoughtful sort of holiday … While it’s mostly all about the entertainment, there is a gentle nudge to viewers to think outside the box, too” …

➢➢ The Telegraph was less impressed: “Unlike An Idiot Abroad, or Richard Ayoade’s Travel Man (another show of the same type), The Wonders of the World I Can’t See isn’t very funny. McCausland and Hill are both funny in other things, but here they seemed awkward – unsure whether to play this as a standard comedy travelogue or to take it a bit more seriously” …

➢➢ Sky Open relaunches its Weekend Murders slot with the most recent season of CB Strike, Troubled Blood (8.30 Saturday), and premieres season five of Yellowstone (9.30 Tuesday). Or at least the first seven episodes. Because of filming disruptions due to the writers’ strike and star Kevin Costner’s demands, the last six episodes won’t run until this time next year …

➢➢ Also returning are The Block Australia (Three, 7.00 Sunday/7.30 Monday-Wednesday) and George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (TVNZ 1, 7.30 Wednesday) while ending their runs are Police Rescue, NCIS: Hawai’i, Love Island Games, Raised by Refugees and Our Flag Means Death …

➢➢ Sarah Snook, Boy George, Greta Lee, Miriam Margolyes and CMAT line up on The Graham Norton Show (Three, 7.30 Thursday) ahead of stand-up special Harley Breen: Flat Out (Three, 8.35 Thursday) …

➢➢ Duke revises its early-evening line-up with hour-long blocks of comedies Two and a Half Men (6.30 Monday-Friday) and 2 Broke Girls (7.30 Monday-Friday) …

➢➢ HD coming attractions include:

• Sunny and the Elephant (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Saturday)
• Notting Hill (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Saturday)
• The Current War (Eden, 8.25 Saturday)
• Zombieland: Double Tap (Three, 8.30 Saturday)
• Youth (Whakaata Māori, 8.40 Saturday)
• Charlie’s Angels 2 – Full Throttle (TVNZ 2, 9.50 Saturday)
• Rambo IV (Duke, 9.50 Saturday)
• Saw 6 (Duke, 11.35 Saturday)
• Sione’s 2: Unfinished Business (TVNZ 2, 11.45 Saturday)
• Born to Dance (TVNZ 2, 1.35am Sunday)
• Trolls (TVNZ 2, 4.15 Sunday)
• Pitch Perfect 2 (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Sunday)
• The Last Full Measure (Eden, 8.30 Sunday)
• The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Sunday)
• Ocean’s Twelve (TVNZ 2, 9.00 Sunday)
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (TVNZ 2, 12.20am Monday)
• Older Than Ireland (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday)
• The Da Vinci Code (Duke, 9.40 Tuesday)
• Donnie Brasco (Duke, 1.10am Wednesday)
• Leviathan (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Wednesday)
• Beethoven’s 2nd (Sky Open, 7.00 Friday)
• Interview With the Vampire (Three, 8.30 Friday)
• Happy Gilmore (Duke, 9.30 Friday).