ScreenScribe

As of Wednesday, TV2 will screen more consecutive HD series in a single night than any other free-to-air network. Seven 1080i shows will run back-to-back over five hours and from next week there will be eight. Most form the network’s hugely popular comedy block, including new seasons of Two and a Half Men and The [...]

Sky Movies Premiere: Let Me In (Sky 20, 8.30, 5.1) What sort of vampire film would schlock-horror merchant Hammer make 35 years after its last? Merely one of the finest since Nosferatu first bared his fangs. Let Me In is that rare Hollywood beast, a re-make that improves on the original: 2008 Swedish art house sensation Let the Right One In. [...]

 SoHo Highlight: Strike Back (Sky 10, 8.30, 5.1) Not the British series that’s aired on Prime (and is out on Blu-ray) but a similar-sounding action hour made for US cable channel Cinemax. It stars Philip Winchester (Camelot, Fringe) and Sullivan Stapleton (Underbelly, Animal Kingdom, above) as globe-trotting, anti-terrorist agents. Variety thought it “reduced everyone pretty much to geopolitical stereotypes” [...]

SoHo Highlight: Hell on Wheels (Sky 10, 5.15, 5.1) If you missed Sunday’s screening, catch up with this repeat, in which Cullen’s search for the sergeant is unexpectedly diverted and Durant organises a search party for Lily Bell (Dominique McElligott, above). ”Choo-choo!” exclaimed New York magazine at this stage of the series. “We’re three episodes into Hell on Wheels and [...]

 Sky Movies Premiere: Megamind (Sky 20, 4.35, 5.1) What would happen if Lois Lane fell for Lex Luthor after Clark Kent hung up his cape? That’s largely the premise of this rollicking, fate-versus-free will superhero ‘toon, which explores an arch villain’s dilemma of being the world’s only super power. What would be the fun in that? Plenty, [...]

SoHo Highlight: The Killing (Sky 10, 9.30, 5.1) Encore screening of the season finale that angered critics and will surprise those who have seen the superior Danish original (which is on DVD). As Entertainment Weekly observed: “The Killing concluded its first season with an ambiguous ending that seemed less thought-out than anxious — for something that would strike viewers [...]

New Zealand’s definitive guide to what’s airing nightly free-to-air in 1080i Saturday TradeZone Gone Fishin’ (TV3, 5.00, R) Rheem Outdoors With Geoff (TV3, 5.30) Movie: The Accidental Husband (TV2, 8.30) Winners & Losers (TV One, 11.15, R) Sunday Hellcats (TV2, 5.30) The War at Home (TV2, 6.30, R) North (TV One, 7.00, R) Movie: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (TV2, 7.00, [...]

TV3 will pair the award-winning new drama sensation of the 2011/12 US TV season, Homeland, with the return of CSI, which will have a new-look lead-in of Last Man Standing and Modern Family. Homeland last month won Golden Globes for best drama series and best actress in a drama (Claire Danes), and is being previewed online [...]

SoHo Highlight: Lackawanna Blues (Sky 10, 8.30, 5.1) An uplifting story of unconditional love fueled by rhythm and blues, in which a young boy’s life is shaped by the stories of characters in the boarding house where he lives. Said the New York Times: “This HBO film is set in a poor neighbourhood of Lackawanna, NY, and [...]

TV One’s Monday night HD reality hits Piha Rescue and Rapid Response last night took a tumble in the ratings. Each averaged 7.6% of the network’s target audience, 25-54 year-olds, compared to 10.6% for Piha’s premiere two weeks ago and 12.2% for Rapid’s. TV One’s HD crime drama, Criminal Minds, also has slipped, from 11.9% [...]