ScreenScribe

The Walking Dead enlivened TV2’s late-night ratings when season three premiered 10.30 Wednesday. It averaged 3.4% – 5.9% of the key demographics, and out-rated lead-in Revolution (4.6% – 6.9%) among household shoppers with kids. However, it was least popular with TV2’s target audience, 18-39 year-olds, despite the third season largely being acclaimed as the best […]

Homeland continues tonight (TV3, 8.35) with a superior instalment to last week’s premiere, Variety reckons. “Once the narrative begins hitting its stride in the second episode, it’s clear the programme remains on a rarefied creative tier, tantalisingly mixing terrific performances with anything-can-happen edge.” The creators of Homeland, Howard Gordon and Alex Sansa, are developing another drama […]

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 […]

NZ’s definitive fee-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) Series premiere: Annabel Langbein The Free Range Cook: Simple Pleasures (TV One, 7.00) MasterChef Australia (TV One, 7.30, F) ITM Fishing Show (TV3, 7.00) CSI: New York (TV3, 8.30, 5.1) CSI: Miami (TV3 9.30, 5.1) Movie: The […]

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 […]

It was inevitable – two of the biggest talent quests on US TV soon will go head-to-head here in the HD hot seat. TV2 will launch season two of The Voice with a three-hour special opposite TV3’s second weekly episode of The X Factor USA on September 21. Something similar happened in the UK earlier this […]

SoHo Highlight: Treme (Sky 10, 9.30, 5.1) Of all the outstanding series on SoHo, this newcomer from The Wire’s David Simon is the best — although it’s so painstakingly executed that it needs to screen in double-episodes to reward patience with momentum. As the New York Times observed: “This is an elliptically told tale, and it takes a few episodes for the […]

SoHo Highlight: Treme (Sky 10, 9.30, 5.1) About the rebuilding of New Orleans three months after Hurricane Katrina, the title refers to a neighbourhood above the French Quarter that symbolises the city’s soul. As co-creator David Simon (The Wire, Homicide: Life on the Street) says on the comprehensive extras of the already-released Blu-ray, “It’s the place […]

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R) Rachel is desperate to get back to work for fear they’ll dump her, and Phoebe gets a job as an extra on Joey’s soap opera. ✫✫✫ Shortland Street (TV2. 7.00, R) Callum is indebted to his enemy; Ula’s rival wraps her up; Maxwell is overcome by lust. ✫✫✫ The X Factor USA (TV3, […]

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R)  ✫✫✫ Chandler falls asleep in a meeting and accidentally agrees to run his company’s Tulsa office, and Emma won’t stop crying after Rachel interrupts her nap. Shortland Street (TV2, 7.00)  ✫✫✫ Callum learns a lesson; Maxwell mixes private and professional with dire consequences; Evan can’t win with Murray. The X Factor USA (TV3, 7.30) […]