Television
The Best of the Week
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 17
The Block NZ (Three, 7.00pm). After only 562 weeks, 27 meltdowns and three incidents with a tutu, the live auction is finally here. The teams keep any profit they make over the reserve price and the pair with the largest profit win another $100,000. The People’s Choice winners get a car. The Auckland housing market is crazy, isn’t it? On Monday, Three milks a little bit more out of its Block stars by subjecting them to a special episode of Family Feud (7.30pm).
Little Boy Blue (Rialto, Sky 039, 8.30pm). Another extraordinary piece of work from British writer Jeff Pope, who has previously tackled Moors murderers Myra Hindley and Ian Brady, British executioner Albert Pierrepoint, Fred
West ( Appropri
ate Adult), and missing schoolgirl
Shannon Matthews
( The Moorside). This four-part dramatisation is about the shooting of 11-year-old Rhys Jones in Liverpool in 2007, a gang crime in which he may have been the victim of mistaken identity. Pope focuses on Rhys’s family and also the wider effects on the community and the city of Liverpool. “Emotionally raw, immersively intimate,” said the Telegraph.
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 18
69th Emmy Awards (Vibe, Sky 006, noon). One word: Westworld. It has 22 nominations but has some competition in The Handmaid’s Tale, The Crown and the only network (as opposed to cable) show nominated in the Outstanding Drama Series category, This Is
Us. Gosh, there are some outstanding contenders
– how would you choose between Claire Foy in The Crown and Elisabeth Moss in The Handmaid’s Tale? Or Riz Ahmed in The Night Of, Ewan McGregor in Fargo and Robert De Niro in The Wizard of
Lies? What about Feud: Bette and Joan vs Fargo vs Big Little Lies? Stephen Colbert hosts the show from the Microsoft Theater in LA, there are highlights on Vibe at 7.30pm, and E! (Sky 014) has redcarpet action from 10.00am.
Face the Classroom (TVNZ 1, today and Tuesday, 8.00pm). Oh, this should be good. Schoolkids aged eight to 12
ask our political leaders the hard questions in this two-part special. Arguably more daunting than an audience with
Kim Hill.
The Orville (TVNZ Duke, 8.30pm). The success of sci-fi comedies such as Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy has given Seth MacFarlane the impetus for his Galaxy Queststyle spoof series in which he plays the fairly incompetent captain of a midlevel exploration starship. The creator of Family
Guy, American Dad! and Ted has roped in some pretty big talent to get him over the line as well, including Jon Favreau, who directs the pilot, and former Star Trek franchise directors Jonathan Frakes, Brannon Braga and
James L Conway. Charlize Theron, Jeffrey Tambor, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have cameos, and the cast includes Adrianne Palicki, Scott Grimes, Victor Garber and Penny Johnson Jerald. TVNZ Duke snuck The Orville into the schedule last week, beginning September 11.
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 19
Grand Designs NZ (Three, 7.30pm). The slow and steady antidote to The Block NZ. Architect Chris Moller returns with another season of unique houses, the first being an ornate homestead in Helensville. It’s the vision of Kelly, who is determined not to be swayed by her husband and six kids, who have suggested a more modern approach. This season, Moller looks at dwellings in a forest, the inner city, on a private island and in a tree canopy.
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 20
Vote 2017 Final Leaders Debate (TVNZ 1, 7.00pm). Last chance to make up our minds: Jacinda “I Can’t Accept That” Ardern or Bill “Nothing to See Here” English? The final leaders’ debate before the election on September 23 is again moderated by Mike “Small Clarification” Hosking. If you prefer your analysis with a tinge of comedy, the Banter Election Special follows on TVNZ Duke at 9.30pm: among those opining are Heather du Plessis-Allan and Toby Manhire, while Guy Montgomery stages a highly scientific snail race to predict the winner. Guess they couldn’t afford an octopus. Those things are way more accurate.
Slice of Paradise (Three, 7.30pm). The Block NZ’s Peter Wolfkamp and Shelley Ferguson morph into our version of Location Location Location’s Kirstie and Phil in this new series in which they help couples get realty. They compete to find the best property for two couples each week, starting with a teacher who wants to buy land north of Auckland and an English couple who need a home near Christchurch with room for their horses and dogs. If you’re looking for something with a bit more design inspiration, Choice TV has a new season of My Dream Home starting this week (Tuesday, 8.30pm), the Canadian series where “Property Brothers” Jonathan and Drew Scott help couples find fixer-uppers and organise the reno.
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 21
Man with a Plan (Prime, 7.30pm). The Office may have turned the world of half-hour-scripted comedies upside down and indirectly led to such clever shows as Master of None and Transparent, but apparently there is still a place for oldfashioned sitcoms – just ask uber-producer Chuck Lorre, who is behind hugely popular shows The Big Bang Theory and Mom. That said, Matt LeBlanc’s new sitcom had a rough start, replacing its lead actress and reshooting its pilot and still suffering terrible reviews (“Not as bad as Kevin Can Wait” said vulture.com, hardly a recommendation). However, it’s hung in there, due in part, no doubt, to LeBlanc’s considerable comic timing. It’s an old-fashioned premise, too: LeBlanc becomes the lead carer of his three children when his wife (Liza Snyder) goes back to work. How hard could it be? He has no idea, etc. That 70s Show writers Jackie and Jeff Filgo seem to have forgotten it’s 2017. Nevertheless, CBS ordered a full season of Man with a Plan and has renewed it for season two. Another Friends star pops up at 8.00pm, although Matthew Perry’s sitcom, an update of The Odd Couple, was cancelled earlier this year.
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 22
7 Days: 2017 Election Special (Three, 9.00pm). Which pollies are brave enough to front up to a special election episode of 7 Days, we wonder? Well, if you’re going to be insulted, it might as well be by experts: Ben Hurley, Jeremy Elwood, Justine Smith and Cori Gonzalez-Macuer are on the panels in this one-hour episode filmed, of course, in Wellington.