HDTV Heads-Up: October 8-14

On the eve of the Blu-ray release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, TV2 will screen the free-to-air HD premiere of Captain Jack Sparrow’s first hearty ha-ha adventure.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl will air 7.30pm on October 8 – the same week TV2 screens in HD the movies I Am Legend (8.30pm Sunday) and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (7.30pm Friday).

TV3’s HD movies that week are Notorious (12.05am Sunday) and a re-run of Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (8.30pm Monday) while TV One launches a rare drama series in HD, Harry’s Law (9.30pm Wednesday).

David E Kelley’s latest, kooky legal eagles series stars Kathy Bates, hence TV One hoping it will appeal to the middle-aged female audience the network targets with most of its increasingly lamentable programming.

Harry’s Law is into its second season on US TV, despite middling to miserable reviews.

The New York Times liked the pilot but still dubbed it “lighthearted sanctimony”, Variety thought it a “breezy diversion” and the Los Angeles reckoned the jury was still out: “amiable … A little more grit, a little less speechifying, and a better verdict might yet arrive.”

But The Hollywood Reporter dismissed the premiere as “cheap, easy, predictable and not very clever”, USA Today quipped it felt like “multiple terrible shows in one” and TV Guide argued Kelley had hit rock-bottom with his “derivative courtroom cartoon”.

Also notable that week are the season finales of Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice.