Schedule Watch: November 16

Absymal ratings are prompting primetime changes on TVNZ 2 and Three. The former is switching All Rise from 9.35 Tuesdays to 10.05 Wednesdays from November 27. It will be replaced by God Friended Me from November 26. And this week’s God Friended Me will air 9.00 Wednesday instead of Mums Gone Wild: Embarrassing Parents, ahead of the repeat special, The Sexbots Are Coming, which follows the creation of a revolutionary sex doll (you can still stream it ondemand). Three, meanwhile, is ditching 9.40 Tuesday re-runs of Deadly Dates for re-runs of Lost & Found. The first season will screen again from this week.

Duke is pushing back its network movie premiere of T2: Trainspotting to 9.35 on November 26, presumably because its R18 content was deemed inappropriate for 8.30. The scheduled broadcast of Taskmaster is being dropped and an 8.30 episode of 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown added.

Duke also is adding Jaguar eTrophy Races to its schedule from November 23.

TVNZ OnDemand advises the first seasons of Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics & Men and Wu-Tang: An American Saga will stream a week later than scheduled, from November 26.

Prime is replacing the scheduled 9.30 November 23 premiere of For the Fern with a re-run of Making NZ and adding late-night highlights of the Blackcaps vs England test from Thursday.

On this weekend’s Sunday (TVNZ 1, 7.30): As the population continues to surge and with Kaitaia doctors closing their books to new patients, Northland faces an unprecedented healthcare crisis. Is it time to rethink our healthcare?

Appearing on this week’s Real Time With Bill Maher (SoHo/SoHo2, various times) are:

• Guests: Sherrod Brown (D), the senior Senator from Ohio and author of “Desk 88: Eight Progressive Senators Who Changed America”; Jaime Harrison, the former chair of the South Carolina Democratic Party who is mounting a 2020 challenge to incumbent Sen. Lindsey Graham.
• Panellists: Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media; Donna Brazile. Fox News contributor, former DNC Chairwoman, and co-author of “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Politics”; Frank Bruni, an op-ed columnist for The New York Times.

On Sunday’s 60 Minutes (Prime, 11.30): Lesley Stahl investigates a cutting-edge cyber espionage tool that governments acquire to fight crime and terror — but can it also be used to crush political dissent?

In the season final of Monday’s Fair Go (TVNZ 1, 7.30), the team tidies up some unfinished business and shares some highlights of their wins, doorstops and bloopers.

On Tuesday’s 20/20 (TVNZ 1, 9.45): The true story of the women who conspired to drug and scam wealthy men inspiring the new movie Hustlers (includes interviews with the women involved and a cardiologist who was a victim).

NZ features heavily on Prime’s The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, with each episode including a video showcasing a different aspect of his six-day trip last month, when he met Jacinda Ardern, visited Hobbiton with Peter Jackson, toured Wellington with Bret McKenzie and Lucy Lawless, and learned rugby tips from the All Blacks. Booked as studio guests are:

• Monday: David Harbour, Karen Olivo, Aaron Tveit
• Tuesday: Adam Driver, Adrienne Warren, the 1975
• Wednesday: Helena Bonham Carter, Lena Waithe, Lady Antebellum
• Thursday: John Heilemann, Alex Wagner
• Friday: Sen. Kamala Harris.

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

• Monday: Laura Dern
• Tuesday: Ray Romano
• Wednesday: David Spade
• Thursday: Keira Knightley and Kathryn Hahn
• Friday: Maya Rudolph and Bazzi.