ScreenScribe

Fringe ends its fourth season tonight (TV2, 10.35) ahead of its postponed Blu-ray release. The set was meant to have gone on sale this month but has been rescheduled for November. Said Entertainment Weekly of the season closure: “Fringe has taken risks, repeatedly over the seasons, with the riff of bringing characters back to life, if […]

The Sydney Morning Herald reports a surprisingly cheap solution for HD fans wanting a region-free Blu-ray player that’s more affordable than Oppo’s. It turns out Toshiba is marketing a range in Australia and NZ that at least one retailer is providing with a firmware CD for “unlocking the player’s factory-set Blu-ray region coding”. The SMH says […]

Amid all the buzz of free-to-air shows like The X Factor USA and Homeland being rushed to air within hours of their US transmission, it’s surprising to see Sky’s SoHo holding back on one of its own. This is the channel that more than any other has brought subscribers up to speed with US screenings of […]

Sony NZ has still to finalise the price of its first 4K consumer TV but already CNET reckons it will be surpassed by the much cheaper XBR-HX950 HD TV. “Yes, the XBR-HX950 is smaller and lower-resolution, and yes, it’s still extremely expensive at a beginning list price of $US3,500,” CNET says. “But I expect it […]

New Zealand’s definitive free-to-air guide to what’s airing nightly in 1080i: Saturday NZ’s Got Talent (TV One, 4.55, R) TradeZone Gone Fishin’ (TV3, 5.00, R) Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook: Simple Pleasures (TV One, 7.00) ITM Fishing Show (TV3, 7.00) CSI: New York (TV3, 8.30, 5.1) CSI: Miami (TV3 9.30, 5.1) Movie: The Children of Huang Shi (TV3, 10.30, 5.1, […]

Forget about Four’s “same week as the States” programming – what about same day? That’s essentially what TV3 will do when it does an X Factor with Homeland and launches season two within a few hours of its US premiere. It starts on Showtime on September 30 and on TV3 on October 1 (at 8.35, […]

Networks Modern Family (TV3, 7.00 Sunday, R) ✭✭✭✩ Mitchell plants the seed in Jay’s head that he thinks one of Jay’s old buddies, Shorty, might be secretly gay. Chazz Palminteri guest stars. The Big Bang Theory (TV2, 8.00 Sunday) ✭✭✭✭ Sheldon gets to square-off on the bowling alley against nemesis Wil Wheaton while Leonard’s miffed […]

News of TV3 making its own X Factor next year follows mixed ratings for the US season’s premiere on Thursday. The two-hour launch seesawed with TV2’s reality shows in most of the major demographics, averaging 7.9% – 10.7%. TV2’s line-up dominated from 7.30-9.30 but traditionally shows like X Factor don’t develop momentum until the auditions […]

Season Highlight: Fringe (TV2, 10.35, 5.1) In the year 2036, a new Fringe team takes on the Observers in a war that will change everything. But to win, they must resurrect a legendary figure from their past. “On its surface, this Fringe episode was a departure from the usual unusualness of the series, yet it in fact continued the series’ ongoing […]

Series Premiere: Smash (TV3, 9.30, 5.1) Glee may be exiting stage right to Four but this musical drama is no mere consolation prize. About a writing duo who conceive a Broadway show based on Marilyn Monroe’s life, it was one of the most acclaimed new dramas of the 2011/12 US TV season. Raved the Los Angeles Times: “The […]