Schedule Watch: June 10

The National Geographic miniseries, The Hot Zone, which can be binge-watched today from 12.30, won’t be in HD on Sky but is yet another reason why the channel is overdue for an upgrade.

NeoGeo is increasingly commissioning more productions of this calibre, which is why it should be high on the list of the next batch of channels to go HD.

The Hot Zone was inspired by Richard Preston’s 1995 best-seller about the spread of Ebola and stars Julianna Marguiles as a US Army veterinarian desperate to prevent its outbreak at a lab facility.

It’s not groundbreaking TV but is compelling, cleverly constructed and thought provoking.

The series, which NatGeo will repeat in weekly hour-long instalments after today’s showcasing, earned respectable reviews in the US and, based on the HD screener Sky provided, the African flashback sequences in particular benefit immensely from the higher resolution.

Booked this week for Prime’s The Late Show With Stephen Colbert are:

• Today: Elisabeth Moss and Matt Bomer.
• Tuesday: Samuel L. Jackson and Ash Carter.
• Wednesday: Tim McGraw, presidential historian Jon Meacham, Tessa Thompson and a musical performance by Jessie Reyez feat. 6lack
• Thursday: Beto O’Rourke and Billy Porter.
• Friday: Kevin Bacon, Mark Ronson and a musical performance by Mark Ronson feat. Lykke Li.
• Monday: Aubrey Plaza and Dan Abrams.

And lined up for TVNZ 1’s The Ellen DeGeneres Show are:

• Friday: Mario Lopez and Kevin Nealon.
• June 17: Howie Mandel and Dr. Dean Ornish.
• June 18: Justin Hartley.
• June 19: Aubrey Plaza and Maggie Rogers.
• June 20: Gary Clark Jr. and Kumail Nanjiani.
• June 21: Courtney Cox and Christina Aguilera.