ScreenScribe

Russian Doll | Netflix, from Friday ☆☆☆☆ “Russian Doll is a beautiful puzzle piece, a circular, multiplane, existential mystery-comedy set in the villages of Lower Manhattan. Peopled with memorable characters large and small, it’s a show that having watched once — not hard to do straight through and hard not to do straight through — you […]

Forever | Amazon Prime Video, from Friday ➢➢ “Not long after I started watching this exquisite eight-episode dramedy from Alan Yang (Master of None) and Matt Hubbard, I realised why the folks at Amazon have been so intent on keeping a lid on its central premise. It seems like a show about two nice, normal […]

A series spun off the movie franchise The Purge will stream on Amazon Prime Video from September 5. Set in an altered America ruled by a totalitarian political party, the series follows several seemingly unrelated characters in a small city over a 12-hour period when all crime, including murder, is legal. As the clock winds […]

TV1’s David Attenborough Meets President Obama special was the most watched programme in its time slot on Monday but finished third in the commercial demographics. Screening here a day after the BBC, it averaged 7.2% of the country but only 2.5% – 6.0% of the key demos. More popular in these demos was TV2’s My […]

TV1’s stable of crime procedurals has been decimated by cancellations in the US. Not returning to the networks in in 2015/16 are Stalker, The Following, Forever, The Mentalist and the upcoming Battle Creek while Unforgettable has been dumped by CBS but picked up by A&E (which airs Bates Motel). However, Castle’s been renewed for an eighth season, […]

TV3’s series premiere of terrorist-thwarting thriller State of Affairs bombed on Monday. It averaged only 1.8% – 2.4% of the commercial demographics compared to 4.7% – 6.1% for lead-in The Blacklist. But such is TV3’s faith in Katherine Heigl’s first series since Grey’s Anatomy that it’s going to re-run at least the first two episodes […]

The Blacklist’s two-hour mid-season premiere on Monday largely out-rated TV1’s double-episode launch of Forever and was competitive with TV2’s The Walking Dead. The James Spader thriller averaged 4.0% – 7.8% of the commercial demographics from 8.30-10.30, compared to Forever’s 2.4% – 6.3%. It won all the key demos except 25-54, shedding more than half of […]

New Zealand’s definitive guide to what’s airing nightly on the networks in 1080i Saturday Rheem Outdoors With Geoff (TV3, 5.00) Season Premiere: The Amazing Race (TV2, 5.45) Movie: The Pirates! Band of Misfits (TV2, 6.45, 5.1, R) Series Premiere: Along for the Ride (TV1, 7.00) Storage Hunters (TV3, 7.00, 5.1) Ice Road Truckers (TV3, 7.30) Movie: Valentine’s Day (TV2, 8.30, 5,1, […]

Never second guess network TV programmers — they always have one more scheduling trick up their sleeve. Turns out TV1 isn’t ditching Stalker after all. In fact, the predatory crime drama seems to be contributing to historic summer viewership for the network. It says the Monday night newcomer is taking a break for one week only on […]

Nothing last forever but the first casualty of the new TV season, TV1’s lurid Monday night thriller, Stalker, isn’t even going to make it to six weeks. It’s rated poorly since launching on January 12 and will be pulled five weeks into a 16-week season — the same night stablemate Castle ends it run. Given […]