A week on the box: July 6-12

Reviewer Trevor Agnew checks out the best shows and films on New Zealand television screens for the week of Tuesday, July 6 to Monday, July 12.

Tuesday, July 6 

South
7pm, TVNZ Heartland (Sky 17)
Even as we read this, Marcus Lush is in Northland filming North. Meanwhile here he is in South demonstrating his delight at living in Southland. The key element here is Lush's enjoyment of his home territory. He's passionate, enthusiastic and keen to spread the good word, which creates great viewing.

The Media Project: Fear, War Greed & Disaster
7.10pm, TVNZ 7 (Freeview/Sky 97)
'Reporting gone rogue?' This four-part study shows how news services have handled such topics as War (reconstruction in Afghanistan), Greed (the destruction of Detroit) and Disaster (the Haiti earthquake). Tonight it's Fear which buys votes and sells news. Max Blumenthal looks at the US Tea Party movement and the role of the Republicans and Fox News.

East West 101
9.30pm, Maori TV
This is a great, award-winning police series, set in Sydney's Major Crime Squad, and using the reliable 'odd couple' structure. Detective Zane Malik (Don Hany) is a young hot-headed Muslim whose background, beliefs and culture cause friction with Sergeant Ray Crowley (William McInnes of Blue Heelers), a middle-aged cop of the old school.

The Investigator: The Case Against Robin Bain
9.30pm, TV One
Throughout the 1995 trial and the 2009 re-trial of David Bain, it was clear that his father, Robin Bain, was also being judged. If there was enough doubt to enable David to be found not guilty, then who else could have carried out the murders? Bryan Bruce uses courtroom film to reach his verdict.

Wednesday, July 7

Baboon Woman
9.30pm, Documentary Channel
Karin Saks is not a baboon. She is a human who can communicate with baboons. Eighteen years ago she raised an orphaned baboon cub and soon found herself deeply involved with a pack of wild baboons in South Africa's Crags region. In this documentary, Saks reveals why she prefers baboons to people.

My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding
9.30pm, TV One
Jolene and her bridesmaids look like Las Vegas chorus-girls, Joan's train needs six people to carry it and Bridget is wearing a glittery star on her head. Gypsy (or Roma or Traveller) girls spend their lives planning their weddings and this British documentary uses the overblown weddings to gain an insight into Gypsy life.

Nga Taonga Whitiahua: Treasures from the Film Archive
9.30pm, Maori TV
The New Zealand Film Archive (Ngā Kaitiaki o Ngā Taonga Whitiāhua) has been securing and preserving our moving images - film and video - since the 1980s. This series shows some of the collection's remarkable pictures of Maori tribal events and gatherings dating back to 1901. Taonga means treasure - for all New Zealanders.

Entourage
11.45pm, TV2
What does a semi-celebrity do when his film goes straight to DVD? Hide out in Mexico of course. Then what do the entourage do? Follow him, of course. This 2008 episode is beloved by all critics because it has critics Richard Roeper and Michael Phillips as themselves, listing the ten worst films. Guess where Medellin rates.

Thursday, July 8

Man vs Wild
7.30pm, Prime
With a name like Bear Grylls, the host of Man vs Wild probably learned to fight for survival from the day he started school. Tonight he survives the snakes and scorpions of Turkey. I always wonder where Bear conceals his toothbrush and razor. Perhaps the camera crew carry his pack for him?

Parenthood
8.30pm, TV3
What if the Waltons all grew up and returned home? That's the premise of Ron Howard's 1989 hit movie Parenthood, and this spin-off series. Planned as a weepie, the series now has more humour as Sara (Lauren Graham), a bar-tending single mother returns home. "I'm a sarcastic person with a sense of irony," warns Graham.

Inside Polygamy: Life in Bountiful
9.30pm, National Geographic
What if Pa Walton had 20 wives?  Winston Blackmore, of Bountiful, British Columbia, has more than 20 wives and more than 100 children. He also agreed to allow the documentary-makers full coverage of his 'fundamentalist Mormon polygamist community' during his son's wedding. Blackmore believes multiple marriages help guarantee his entrance into Heaven.

20/20 Special Edition: Inside a Cult: Messiah on Trial
9.30pm, TV2
Here's another National Geographic documentary This one is about Wayne Bent (Michael Travesser) the charismatic leader of The Lord Our Righteous Church, a religious group with a compound at Strong City, New Mexico. Bent's prediction of Judgement Day as 2007 brought him publicity but his involvement with 'seven virgins' led to the law courts.

Friday, July 9

Ancient Secrets: China's Lost Pyramids
8.30pm, National Geographic
This documentary looks not at the terracotta army but at later Han Dynasty tombs which were built without bankrupting the national treasury. They still managed to leave enormous pyramid tombs, full of astonishing riches. Recent excavations have revealed complete underground palaces, including kitchens and toilets. A toilet in a tomb?

24
8.30pm, C4
It's the final episode of 24 and before the CTU clock shows 00:00:00, Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) has to rescue democracy yet again. Last week he was ready to assassinate Russia's president Suvarov but it was also clear that US President Taylor was ready to have Jack killed. Can Chloe save the world? Does anyone care? 3...2...1...

RadiRadiRah
9.30pm, TV3
This local comedy sketch series has been a gem - with John Clarke phoning in as our future leader, a beached whale reasoning with passing seabirds, Taika Waititi as an alien invader, and a roadworks gang doubling as a sensitivity encounter group. My favourite is the subtly altered classic art. Tonight's episode, alas, is the final.

Alan Carr: Chatty Man
11.40pm, TV One
Piers Morgan called Alan Carr 'repugnant, whining and annoying,' but he's actually giggly and a bit camp. His interviews - held on an overstuffed living-room set - are light-hearted, and concentrate on TV and web personalities. Yes, Carr twitters and tweets. It's only a matter of time before his spectacles have their own website. Late night fun

Saturday, July 10

Is It Safe To Eat?
4.30pm, TVNZ Heartland (Sky 17)
From the TVNZ archives, Peter Chaplin returns with a series that concentrated on the hard science answers to that question. Is It Safe To Eat includes the views of New Zealand's scientists, chemists, food experts and toxicologists as it examines what we're eating in the age of mad cow disease and genetically modified food.

Young Farmer of the Year: Final
7.30pm, TVNZ6 (Freeview/ Sky 16)
Seven finalists (survivors of the gruelling semi-finals) gather in Gore, the heart of Southland, to match their agricultural and pastoral skills. Which one will be chosen Young Farmer of the Year 2010? Host Mark Leishman knows the qualities needed: "Part businessman, vet, maintenance man and you have to be fit and healthy."

The Heir Hunters
9.30pm, Living Channel
This is a quietly fascinating British series about firms of probate detectives who seek out the relatives of people who died without leaving a will. It doesn't have the tight focus of Who Do You Think You Are? (Mondays, 7.30pm, UKTV) but the process of trailing people through documents and interviews becomes gripping.

The Silent One
11pm, TVNZ Heartland (Sky 17)
What a dopey time to screen a great family film! Based on Joy Cowley's classic novel, and filmed in the Cook Islands, The Silent One tells the story of Jonassi, a lonely, deaf boy and his unusual bond with a mysterious white sea-turtle. Pat Evison is great as Jonassi's foster-mother. Set the recorder.

Sunday, July 11

Make It Or Break It
5.30pm, TV2
TV2 is providing holiday fare (like 12.30pm movies on weekdays) and junior viewers may enjoy this drama series about young US gymnasts competing for a chance at the Olympics. Plenty of pushy mums and spiteful contenders, along with neat gymnastics. Watch for Peri Gilpin (Ros in Frasier) as Payson's mother, Kim Keeler. Glee with balance beams.

The Old Guys
7pm, UKTV
Retirement for Tom and Roy raises the big questions, like how early in the day is too early to start drinking. Roger Lloyd-Pack (The Vicar of Dibley) and Clive Swift (Keeping Up Appearances) are the odd couple in this British comedy about settling into the indignities of old age with some spirited resistance.

Doctor Who: The Lodger
7.30pm, Prime
This is the episode which Gareth Roberts adapted from his Doctor Who comic strip. Trapped in Colchester by a time-loop, the Doctor seeks lodgings, but what is that alarming activity at the top of the stairs? Fortunately Matt Smith is a keen footballer, so the Doctor gets a chance to play soccer.

America: The Story of Us
7.30pm, History Channel
The History Channel has screened lots of dramatised re-enactments of history mostly involving Ancient Egyptians or Nazis. Now it's giving the United States the full popular history treatment with computerised special effects and plenty of conflict. With the Revolution completed last week, the Americans are now looking west.

Monday, July 12

Antiques Roadshow
7.30pm, Prime TV
The 32nd series finds plenty of rarities at Samares Manor on the island of Jersey, including Marilyn Monroe's lemon squeezer. Fiona Bruce hosts as punters bring in items from Japan, South Africa, Egypt and France, including a remarkable watch. This is also the first episode ever to include a forensic test - on a gold bangle.

Generation Kill
8.30pm, TV One
With On Demand repeats at tvnz.co.nz, there's still time to join this well-written, ably-acted series which concentrates on the interaction rather than the action; men rather than the mayhem. In The Pacific it seemed that everybody smoked; in Generation Kill we may have a sweet-sucking bunch of non-smokers.

How the Other Half Lives
9.55pm, TV One
A second chance to see a good series about minority groups. Don't be put off by Marc Ellis as host. The fact that he knows little more than a few basic stereotypes about each group means that he spends a few days with people getting to know a little bit about the way they see and do things.

Satisfaction
10.30pm, TV2
It's all in the terminology. 232's not a brothel; it's a gentlemen's club. The workers are not prostitutes; they're high class escorts. They don't show off their bodies; they celebrate women in all shapes and forms. The plots aren't sleazy; they're saucy. No wonder that Satisfaction is now in its third season.

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