Tonight in HD: June 20

Season Highlight: The Big Bang Theory (TV2, 8.30, 5.1) It’s a dream come true for Sheldon when he has a close encounter with his hero, Mr Spock. “The hype around this week’s episode surrounds the cameo by Leonard Nimoy, but the Star Trek thespian only appears via audio, voicing Sheldon’s Mego Spock figure in a couple of dreams,” the AV Club pointed out in its ‘A’ appraisal of The Transporter Malfunction. “The Leonard Nimoy stuff is fun, but the highlight is the Raj subplot … dealing with his stereotypically gay portrayal.” IGN called it “one of the season’s strongest episodes. Not only was it character-rich, but also damn funny, too.” Moreover: “How do you achieve nerd nirvana?” asked Entertainment Weekly. “Book Spock and the smartest guy on the planet for cameos. The Big Bang Theory was already enjoying its most watched season to date (16.3 million) when it exceeded expectations by luring Leonard Nimoy and Stephen Hawking in the same week.” “These are two fantasy gets,” co-creator/executive producer Bill Prady told EW. “Nimoy hits that level of pop culture fandom, and Stephen is the heir to Einstein. It’s a thrill beyond thrills.” Hawking appears in next week’s episode. ✭✭✭✭✭

Bikie Wars: Brothers in Arms (TV3, 8.30) Hostilities between the two clubs intensify with Jock declaring war on the Bandidos. Quipped The Age about this drama’s progress: “What’s becoming increasingly evident as Bikie Wars continues is how petty the whole thing is. Viewed in the kindest light, there’s something Shakespearean about the inevitability of the escalating violence as this story moves to its denouement, propelled by ego and testosterone … What’s depressing is … this is really just about who has the biggest dick.” ✭✭✭✭

Home & Away (TV3, 5.30) Ruby asks Indi to let Romeo go; Alf is still weary of Harvey and Roo’s relationship; Liam’s worried about Heath’s involvement in Hayley’s life. ✭✭

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R) Phoebe causes trouble when she kisses someone at Rachel’s workplace; Ross bleaches his teeth. ✭✭✭

Shortland Street (TV2, 7.00) Vinnie finally fathoms how the notes went missing; Murray’s commitment to Cat backfires; TK learns the awful truth about Josh. ✭✭✭

Two and a Half Men (TV2, 7.30, 5.1) Walden breaks the news to Zoey that he is going into business with his ex-wife; Alan and Lyndsey try to come to terms with his mums’ new relationship. ✭✭

Road Cops (TV3, 7.30) A dangerously overloaded truck is stopped whilst carrying a Kauri Stump; an officer is forced to chase an offender through a car-park; constables pull over a car filled with opinionated youths.  ✭✭

2 Broke Girls (TV2, 8.00, 5.1) In an effort to raise money to help Caroline’s father, Max convinces Caroline to partake in a clinical drug trial. ✭✭

The GC (TV3, 8.00, F) It’s D-day for Cole as his whanau from NZ arrive; Jade Louise heads to the studio to record her first single; Nate attends driving lessons; Tame has a surprise for everyone. ✭✭

Happy Endings (TV2, 9.00, 5.1) So many bad things have happened every time the friends celebrate Penny’s birthday, they’re wondering if her special day might be cursed. ✭✭

Castle (TV One, 9.30, 5.1) Castle and Beckett wake up in bed, handcuffed together, in a locked room with no memory of how they got there. ✭✭

Breakout Kings (TV3, 9.30, 5.1) The team tries to catch a ruthless woman, convicted of murdering her husband by stabbing him 48 times, who escaped from prison on a school bus. ✭✭✭

Nikita (TV2, 10.30, 5.1) Nikita is shocked when she discovers that her old Division partner, Kelly, escaped from a Turkish prison. ✭✭

Sky Movies Premiere: For Coloured Girls (Sky 20, 8.30, 5.1) This adaptation of an award-winning “choreopoem” about what it feels like to be a woman of colour divided critics. “The characters are seven chromatically differentiated women (brown, yellow, purple, red, green, blue and orange) from points across the country, who recite ‘dark phrases of womanhood’ (the first words in the play) involving infanticide, incest and other horrors,” observed the New York Times. “That might sound unbearable, but done right it’s thrilling.” But New York magazine argued it it was “a tawdry, masochistic soap opera that exponentially ups the Precious ante.” (2010) ✭✭✭