HDTV Heads-Up: August 25-31

The best police drama series since The Shield will screen in HD from August 28.

TV One’s late-night Tuesday sensation Southland will switch to 1080i transmissions with the start of season three.

The changeover marks when the under-rated series was picked up by TNT, the home of The Closer and Dallas, following its axing by NBC after only two short-run season of 13 episodes in total.

TNT initially commissioned 10 episodes in a punt that led to Southland being renewed for fourth and fifth seasons.

Apparently, the quality remains high but with more action.

Star Ben McKenzie told TV Squad that sequences in season three “amp up the stakes … [In] almost every episode, we’ve got some big action piece.”

The same week, TV One will launch season two of local HD drama Nothing Trivial on a new night: 8.30 Sundays.

It will be the second half of a two-hour NZ HD block when NZ’s Got Talent kicks off at 7.30 Sunday in September.

Also of note in HD for the week starting August 25:

❑ Season finales of Missing on Monday (TV One, 9.30) and The Slap on Wednesday (TV3, 9.35)

❑ The network premiere of Knight and Day on Monday (TV3, 8.30)

❑ A re-run of Bride Wars on Sunday (TV3, 8.30).