ScreenScribe

NZ’s definitive guide to what’s airing nightly in 1080i on the networks: Saturday Trade Zone Gone Fishin’ (TV3, 5.00) ITM Fishing Show (TV3, 5.30) Country Calendar (TV One, 7.00) MasterChef MasterClass (TV One, 7.30) Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (TV2, 7.30) Missing Pieces (TV3, 7.30, R) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV3, 8.30, 5.1) MasterChef NZ (TV One, 9.30, R) [...]

TV3 will use the first NZ version of The X Factor to give Sunday nights a tune-up. The 90-minute premiere will screen, as ScreenScribe.tv contributor Leo Styles predicted, on April 21, from 7.00-8.30, ahead of the network HD premiere of Sione’s 2: Unfinished Business. X Factor will screen twice weekly, with the second episode airing [...]

TV3′s new HD sitcom The New Normal sharply out-rated lead-in Modern Family on Friday while the network’s Sunday HD staple, The Simpsons, rated lower than The Krusty the Clown Show. The New Normal averaged 4.8% – 5.5% of the key demographics, and was most popular with TV3′s 25-54 target. That was not only well above [...]

TV3 will relaunch Hawaii Five-O late-night Wednesdays from March 27 but the bad news for fans is the episodes won’t be new. Like The Good Wife, with which NZ lags two seasons behind the US, the network is inexplicably delaying the resumption of overdue first-run eps. The reboot of the ’60s cop show is into its [...]

Tuesday’s premiere of Kingdom of the Plants sprouted fewer viewers than Africa in the same slot the previous week. It averaged 3.9% – 7.3% of the key demographics but in each finished behind HD rivals Revenge and NCIS. The two dramas see-sawed in the ratings, with the former having the edge: it averaged 7.2% – 10.4% [...]

HD isn’t the only new normal on TV3 — it’s also the name of its latest gay parenting sitcom. Not surprisingly, the network is teaming it with Friday night re-runs of Modern Family from March 22. From Glee creator Ryan Murphy, The New Normal stars The Hangover’s Justin Bartha and Girls’ Andrew Rannells as a gay [...]

Sunday’s network HD premiere of Fast Five couldn’t reverse Packed to the Rafters’ popularity and struggled to keep up with National Treasure: Book of Secrets. The Fast & Furious sequel averaged 4.9% – 6.2% of the key demographics and only pulled ahead of Secrets in the 18-39 race (6.2% vs 5.2%); Rafters averaged 6.4% – 9.7% [...]

How do you follow a natural history series as spectacular as Africa? With another David Attenborough sensation, Kingdom of Plants. TV One will launch the three-part series, which aired in 3D in the UK, on March 12, two weeks ahead of its Blu-ray release (which also will be in 2D only, and not 3D, as [...]

TV2 has axed Sunday HD comedy Anger Management after a second consecutive week of the kind of ratings that make TV executives see red. From this Sunday it’s replacing the Charlie Sheen sitcom and its SD stablemate, Fool Britannia, with re-runs of Renters. Both were beaten at the weekend by TV3′s The Simpsons and Family [...]

In a shocking ratings switcheroo, Sunday’s Simpsons hour on TV3 out-rated TV2’s comedy line-up. The Simpsons re-run at 7.00 averaged 5.5% – 8.1% of the key demographics to beat another repeat of The Big Bang Theory from episode one, season one (4.3% – 6.4%). And the original 7.30 broadcast (5.4% – 7.4%) drew up to [...]