Prime Television launched its 2010 New Season programming yesterday to Auckland media folk, with more presentations coming up in Wellington tomorrow and Christchurch next week. Some of the highlights:
WINTER OLYMPICS
Pride of place at the launch was given over to the Winter Olympics (Vancouver 12-28 February), which will feature on Prime for more than 12 hours of free-to-air coverage each day. The Olympics will screen on Prime from 6am till 6pm each day, accompanied by a special daily highlights show during primetime, hosted by the irrepressible presenters from “The Crowd Goes Wild”.
The Winter games are Sky’s first shot at Olympic Gold, and the free to air coverage is in addition to four dedicated channels on Sky’s Pay TV service (as well as online streaming to Kiwi viewers for the very first time).
In past years New Zealand has been poorly served when it comes to Winter Olympics content; that all changes in 2010.
FIFTY YEARS OF NEW ZEALAND TELEVISION (LOCAL DOCUMENTARY)
New Zealand television is fifty years old in June 2010 and Prime will be screening a landmark documentary series to mark the occasion. We’ll quickly slide past the issue of why our state broadcaster isn’t carrying this content and quietly observe that this doco series will be a fascinating retrospective on the last fifty years, as seen through the distorting lens of a Cathode Ray Tube. Looking forward to it.
SURVIVORS (UK DRAMA)
This remake of the iconic British series from the seventies asks the question “what would happen if a virulent disease scoured the planet, wiping out most of the human race?” Set in present-day Britain, the series naturally focusses on the lonely few survivors as they struggle to survive in a devastated world where everything that was once safe and familiar is now strange and dangerous. Survivors debuted on BBC1 with 6.5 million viewers in November last year; and although it inevitably shed a number of viewers during its first season run, the drama has been renewed for a second season (not yet aired in the UK).
STARGATE UNIVERSE (US DRAMA)
This latest iteration of the Stargate franchise goes where ‘Lost In Space’ and ‘Star Trek Voyager’ have gone before, stranding an unlikely crew of soldiers and civilians on an ancient starship billions of lightyears from home. This series is pitched at a younger and less geeky audience than its predecessors, and (probably inspired by the reimagining of BattleStar Galactica) introduces romance and conflict within the group rather than relying on external, alien forces to create sparks. The series launched early in October in the US (on the SyFy cable channel) and is attracting a small but perfectly formed fan following.
THE LISTENER (CANADIAN DRAMA)
Not to be confused with our own magazine of the same name, The Listener is a supernatural drama set in Toronto about Toby, a young paramedic with the ability to listen to people’s most intimate thoughts. The show began airing in the US in June 2009, with thirteen episodes produced, but was cancelled after the seventh episode due to low ratings. Toby helps persons in crisis and on the way comes to terms with his own past. With the help of his supporting cast, Toby realizes that his gift can serve to help other people. Yes, another do-gooder. [Why don't we ever have a series about a telepath who decides to rip people off? That would probably rate high enough to get renewed!]
BEING HUMAN (UK DRAMA)
They’re flatmates, they’re twenty-something (or at least look like they are) and they each have a bit of a secret: George is a werewolf, Mitchell is (inevitably) a vampire and Annie is dead. They’re trying to have a normal life — but with unwelcome intruders into their world, rumblings about an impending revolution from the vampire underworld and constant threats of exposure, it isn’t easy. The first season rated well enough on BB3 that a second series was given the green light. BTW, watch for the shtick in the first episode where George heads into the woods looking for a place to hide when he’s about to change into a werewolf. Between courting couples and poachers, there’s nowhere safe …
RESCUE SPECIAL OPS (AUSTRALIAN DRAMA)
You know the drill. Australian paramedics, the first to be called in for any natural or man-made disaster. Considered heroes, they’re really just like anyone else (but better looking), juggling life, love and career. Screened on the Nine Network from August to October, with average ratings — but that was good enough to see a second series commissioned for 2010.
KROD MANDOON AND THE FLAMING SWORD OF FIRE (UK COMEDY)
Perhaps we should take offence, or at least be non-supportive, given how profitable the sword-and-sorcery genre has been for the New Zealand film industry (LOTR, Hercules, Xena, Legend of the Seeker et al.). But KMATFSOF, a send-up of fantasy fiction, has at least a worthy aim (even if, as is the way with such shows, sometimes the comedy fails to fire). The show, launched earlier this year, received mixed reviews and mediocre ratings in the United States and was briefly announced as cancelled, a status that was quickly retracted. KMATFSOF is an acquired taste, attracting passionate fans and dismissive critics alike.
Q.I. (UK COMEDY)
Steven fry’s award-winning comedy panel show, where contestants are awarded points if their answers are Quite Interesting. A longstanding hit in the UK, this is the first time QI has been cleared for sale internationally (probably because much of the humour is both topical and designed for domestic consumption). Despite those qualifications, the show should attract a keen Kiwi and expat audience over here.
MONTY PYTHON: ALMOST THE TRUTH (UK DOCUMENTARY)
Six-part series telling the stories of the infamous Monty Python team. This will be the fourth version of the documentary, which has already seen three different retellings so far in 2009. The original film is seven-and-a-half hours long, the director’s cut is 105 minutes long, and finally a version dubbed “The BBC Lawyer’s Cut” that is 59 minutes.
And a brief mention of other shows new to the Prime schedule for 2010:
EXTRAORDINARY KIWIS (LOCAL DOCUMENTARY)
Clarke Gayford travels through NZ meeting interesting New Zealanders.
HOMEGROWN (LOCAL DOCUMENTARY)
Practical, hands-on gardening advice.
PETA UNPLUGGED IN MARRAKECH (LOCAL DOCUMENTARY)
Peta Mathias offers fresh perspective on the Berber culture through its cuisine. Hey, stranger things have happened!
DANGER BEACH MURIWAI (LOCAL REALITY)
Volunteer, life-saving heroes who save lives at New Zealand’s roughest, toughest beach.
LIFE AFTER PEOPLE: THE SERIES (DOCUMENTARY)
Forget Survivors, Mad Max, 2012 and all the other post-apocalyptic tales. This documentary series uses special effects and expert comentary to understand what would really happen to our environment if human life disappeared forever.
LAST CHANCE TO SEE (UK DOCUMENTARY)
Steven Fry travels the world in search of some of the world’s most endangered animals — from the ice-covered mountain tops of New Zealand to the steamy jungles of the Amazon and other exotic locations in-between.
NAZI HUNTERS (DOCUMENTARY)
How a select band of secret agents and adventurers hunted down some of the most evil men in history and finally brought them to justice.
PROPERTY LADDER (DOCUMENTARY)
A look, perhaps too late, at property developers.
NEW TRICKS (UK DRAMA)
New Tricks comes to Prime for its sixth series, as The Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad investigate a fresh batch of unsolved murders and cold cases.
TEN THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LOSING WEIGHT (DOCUMENTARY)
This doco explores the worldwide obsession with weight loss.
WORLD WAR II IN COLOUR (DOCUMENTARY)
Rare and unseen footage, satellite terrain mapping and state of the art graphics to bring a whole new understanding of the Second World War.
VIDEO KILLED THE RADIO STAR (DOCUMENTARY)
Behind the lens of the most iconic music videos ever created.
THE GOODE FAMILY (US COMEDY)
Animated series (from the makers of Beavis & Butthead and King of the Hill) that pokes fun at our nouveau obsession with “doing the right thing” [i.e. saving the planet, one sustainable-sourced, fair-trade-produced, country-of-origin-verified, unbleached, petroleum-free, recycled paper shopping bag at a time]. An early casualty of the 2009 US television season, cancelled due to low ratings.
SURVIVING SUBURBIA (US COMEDY)
Star vehicle for Bob Saget, former host of America’s Funniest Home Videos. A half-hour comedy dubbed as a male Roseanne, Surviving Suburbia became another early victim of the 2009 US TV season.
THE REAL SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON (UK REALITY)
Four families keen to escape the crises of their everyday lives embark on a life-changing advenutre: three weeks on a deserted island.
MEET THE HASSELHOFFS (UK REALITY)
The Hoff takes a family holiday to the UK and we’re along for the ride.
IT’S ME OR THE DOG (UK REALITY)
Super Nanny, but for pets.
And finally, amongst the shows returning to Prime in 2010:
- The last outings of the tenth Doctor Who, David Tennant, leading into the new adventures of the eleventh doctor, Matt Smith;
- And True Blood, Merlin, Midsomer Murders, Ashes to Ashes, Poirot, Lewis, Weeds, Legend of the Seeker, Judge John Deed, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Who Do You Think You Are, Bondi Rescue, Man vs Wild, Super Nanny, Wife Swap USA, Secret Millionaire, Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey and of course Top Gear.
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