Tonight in HD: July 9

Series Premiere: Unforgettable (TV One, 8.30, 5.1) Poppy Montgomery stars as a detective with a medical condition that means she can’t forget anything, except for details from the day her sister was murdered. “Montgomery’s last gig on CBS, Without a Trace, lasted seven years,” the New York Daily News said. “Unforgettable has a ways to go, but it’s got a lot of the right stuff.” The New York Times likened the premise to a female Monk. “Because the structure and plot points are so familiar, whether it succeeds will depend largely on the appeal of its star.” One of the harshest verdicts was from the Los Angeles Times: “Unfortunately, if you name a show Unforgettable you really need to deliver, and the pilot just doesn’t.” ✭✭✭

Movie: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (TV3, 8.30, 5.1, R) Revenge of the Fallen is one loud, effing sequel. Not surprisingly, critics hammered it but if you’re in the mood for mind-blowing, mechanised mayhem leavened by goofy, Gremlins-style gags, this sci-fi spectacular delivers with dynamite grunt. It’s more fun than the original and director Michael Bay and his crew crank up the visual effects to a level that’s so beyond state of the art it transforms expectations of what Hollywood’s whizzkid will do next — just as Transformers: Dark of the Moon has done. (2009) ✭✭✭✭

MasterChef Australia (TV One, 4.45) The Red and Blue team go head to head in the ultimate yum cha challenge. ✭✭

Home & Away (TV3, 5.30) Alf brings up old ghosts for Lottie; Brax lets Danny stay; Ruby’s pregnancy distances her from Romeo. ✭✭

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R) Ross fails to impress his girlfriend’s father; Joey jeopardises his acting role by insulting a robot; Phoebe writes a book about Monica and Chandler. Bruce Willis guest stars. ✭✭✭

Shortland Street (TV2, 7.00) Paige is challenged to take a risk; Phoenix follows a private lead; Cat gets her claws out. ✭✭✭

Last Man Standing (TV3, 7.30, 5.1) When Mike’s dad, Bud, moves to town to be the builder on the new Outdoor Man store, Vanessa is concerned that some of Bud’s well-intentioned ways might elevate Mike’s high blood pressure. ✭✭

Modern Family (TV3, 8.00, 5.1) Nothing is more quintessential to good ol’ family fun than a trip to Disneyland – but not without a side of motion sickness, achy feet and a wayward toddler. ✭✭✭✭

Desperate Housewives (TV2, 8.30, 5.1) As her trial nears, Bree begins to fall for her attorney, Trip Weston; the ladies are shocked when Gabrielle prepares to take the fall for Carlos. ✭✭

Missing (TV One, 9.30, 5.1) With Becca still on the hunt to find her son, her best friend complicates matters with her surprise arrival in Europe; Michael struggles to uncover answers behind his kidnapping. Despite being a 24 junkie, I bailed on this preposterous conspiracy thriller within the first half-hour of the premiere. But the usually reliable Jane Clifton highly recommended it in her Dominion Post review for its importance-of-family premise and a heroine who’s a middle-aged mum: “The moral of this story is already clear: never get between a lioness and her cub, specially if the lioness is a retired international covert operative who has kept in shape.” ✭✭

Bones (TV3, 12.00, 5.1, R) Brennan and Booth investigate human remains found at a neighbourhood block party. ✭✭