The Ricky Gervais Show

Sunday, January 1st at 7:30pm

**New series** The Ricky Gervais Show will premiere on TV 3 from Sunday, January 1^st at 11:30pm. The animated show features Gervais and his long-time collaborator Stephen Merchant (The Office, Extras), and revolves around the world of their unusual friend, Karl Pilkington (An Idiot Abroad).

Originally starting out as a radio program in the U.K. in 2005, Gervais and Merchant decided to turn the show into a podcast, bringing Pilkington, a radio producer they had met years earlier, along. Soon the podcasts began to focus particularly on the eccentric mind of Pilkington.

The podcast became wildly popular, gaining a Guinness World Record in 2007 for being the most-downloaded podcast on the Internet.

“It’s such a natural for animation,” Lisa Ullmann explains, Wildbrain Vice President. “We worked closely with Gervais figuring out how he wanted himself to look, as well as Steven and Karl.”

Drug Bust

Monday, January 2^nd at 7:30pm

Step inside the world of the New Zealand Police’s war on drugs. Drug Bust is a fast paced factual observational series that follows New Zealand’s largest police district, Counties Manukau, as they fight the war against drugs.

The district has the highest population in New Zealand but it is also one of the poorest regions – and with this comes crime. With unprecedented access, Drug Bust follows the district’s drug investigation teams as they take on the criminal underworld in a fight to take back their communities. From children living in meth houses to drug related violence, the viewer gets a birds-eye look at the damage drugs are doing to our communities.

Kalgoorlie Cops

Monday, January 2^nd at 8pm

The show takes a no-holds-barred look at the work of the 217 uniformed police and detectives who control the world’s largest police beat on the planet. Situated at the edge of the Nullabor Plain in the West Australian outback with a population of 32,000 people, Kalgoorlie is a town like no other.

Sprouting from the gold rush of 1893, these days the town is flush with money, miners, hookers and bikers – meaning there’s never a dull moment for Kalgoorlie’s cops.

From murders to drug trafficking, organised crime, theft, prostitution, domestic disputes and old-fashioned Friday night punch-ups, to searching for missing tourists and prospectors in the huge expanse of desert surrounding Kalgoorlie, this action-packed series takes a never before-seen look at the workings of the biggest police beat in the world.

Come Fly With Me

Friday, January 6^th at 9:30pm

The hilarious Matt Lucas and David Walliams (Little Britain) airport mockumentary, Come Fly With Me, is set in an airport and following the lives of the people who hold it all together – including airline owners, check-in staff, fast-food workers, immigration officers, pilots and cabin crew, as well as the passengers.

“Sometimes members of the public gather behind the camera and like to watch,” explains Lucas about the filming process. “But what you gain is hopefully a show that looks like no other comedy show; that has a kind of authenticity and a scale about it that you could not easily create in a studio, unless you had tens of millions of pounds to build one.”

Super City

Friday, January 6^th at 10pm

Super City is the local comedy series which sees Madeleine Sami (Jaquie Brown Diaries and Sione’s Wedding) hilariously transform into five very different characters all living in New Zealand’s super city.

Directed by Taika Waititi (Boy & Eagle vs. Shark), Super City sees Sami hilariously portraying five acutely observed and very different characters all living in Auckland.

There’s Pasha, an aging cheerleader clinging to her partying lifestyle; Azeem, an immigrant taxi driver embracing Maori culture; Jo, a closeted gym instructor in love with her best friend; Linda, the runt of her “old girls” clique fostering impoverished artists and Georgie, a homeless girl whose freedom is unexpectedly interrupted.

“Hopefully viewers will get a lot of laughs and take these unique personalities into their hearts…,” Madeleine Sami says about her onscreen characters.

Documentary: Katie: My Beautiful Face

Tuesday, January 3^rd at 9:30pm

Katie was young and beautiful, but a vicious acid attack destroyed her face. Now Katie: My Beautiful Face follows Katie as she tries to re-build her life.

A model and budding TV presenter, 24-year-old Katie had a glowing future ahead of her. But in 2008, a vicious acid attack destroyed her face, and with it her career and her life as she knew it.

More than a year on, and having undergone countless operations and rounds of physiotherapy, she has now chosen to give up her anonymity and tell her own story for the first time.

“I’ve decided to tell my story so that people know what these men did to me,” Kate explains to UK’s Channel 4. “To help people understand who have ignorance about people that look different, and for people not to be frightened of burns and the stigma attached to it, to understand that it’s still the same person underneath.”

Below is a listing of the top ten programmes on NZTV, recorded as of the 25th September 2011 via Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

The top programme being watched is still One news TV ONE, with a mixture of New Zealand drama and current affairs in the other top spots and RWC coverage making it into the top 10.

To watch some of these programmes please follow this link to the TVNZ website.

Both New Zealand’s Next Top Model and Underbelly will be screening in HD

UNDERBELLY NZ: LAND OF THE LONG GREEN CLOUD – Wednesday, August 31st at 9:30pm

This week sees Marty Johnstone’s (Dan Musgrove) confidence rising to the top once again when he and Peter Miller prepare for their blue-water enterprise with the Brigadoon. However, despite Marty’s less than ethical ways, Dan Musgrove says he feels fortunate to be portraying a character seeded so deeply in New Zealand’s criminal history. “It’s a privilege to be able to tell a story based on actual events and play a character that really existed,” he says. “There’s an authenticity to the way the story unfolds… it’s unpredictable and sometimes unbelievable just like real life.”

THE BIGGEST LOSER, series final, Wednesday, August 31st at 7:30pm

The  unmissable makeover episode sees the remaining contestants finally shed their stinky workout gear to unveil their polished new looks. “They’ve been sweating away for months,” says host Alison Sweeney. “It’s the first opportunity for them to think about how far they’ve come – and to enjoy it.”

For some contestants, reaching this milestone is nearly as big a goal as making it to the series’ finale.

NEW ZEALAND’S NEXT TOP MODEL – series final, Friday, September 2nd at 7:30pm

It’s the live series final – after 12 weeks of gruelling competition, trials and tribulations, it all comes down to this moment. “For the first time, our finalists will get the opportunity to bring together everything they’ve learned across the series, and walk in our grade finale for WORLD at New Zealand Fashion Week!”, says producer Emma White.

THE MILLEN BAIRD SHOW – series final, Friday, September 2nd at 10pm

It’s time to say goodbye to the dysfunctional town of Paua Point. Starring talented actor, comedian and writer Millen Baird and his comedy team of Fasitua Amosa, Nick Kemplen, Mia Blake, Glen Levy and Gregor McLennan, “Public reaction to the show has blown me and the guys away,” says Baird of the enormous support he and the team have received from fans of the hit series.

Set in the sleepy beachside town of Paua Point, each episode is based on a series of loosely related vignettes following the misadventures of the weird and wonderful townsfolk. Over the season fans have seen these off the wall Paua Pointers strut their stuff in a storyline which has intertwined and grown with each week.

The land of the long green cloud will begin screening onWednesday 17 August, TV3 at 9:30pm.

On Thursday 22 September, the day after the final broadcast, and the DVD will land in store. Don’t miss out!

Underbelly is a hugely popular show and is described as “Australia’s best ever crime drama”.

Below is a listing of the top ten programmes on NZTV, recorded as of the 18th July 2011 via Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

The top programme being watched is Shortland Street, with News programmes dominating the remainder, and interestingly The Food Truck is currently rating fourth – a reality TV programme looking at the challenge of making fast food healthy.To watch some of these programmes please follow this link to the TVNZ website.

Journey into Darkness – The Strongman Tragedy, a documentary currently in production about  the Strongman Mine explosion that claimed the lives of 19 men, and the subsequent Commission of Inquiry.

The 90 minute telefeature is being produced for TV3 by Paula McTaggart from A Bigger Picture Ltd in association with Gaylene Preston Productions, with funding from the prestigious New Zealand On Air Platinum Fund.

Acclaimed filmmaker Gaylene Preston will direct the dramatic content of the feature-length programme, which will blend dramatisation with interviews filmed by McTaggart along with archive gathered over the past four years.

“I am humbled by the stories of lives completely thrown into chaos by that explosion in 1967,” says Preston.  “It is an honour to be involved in bringing the story of this terrible mine tragedy and inquiry to the screen.

Opened in 1939, the state owned Strongman Mine (11 kilometres north-east of Greymouth) was the pride and flagship of NZ’s coal industry and the largest underground coal mine in the country.  On 19 January, 1967, an explosion blew through the section of the mine known as Green’s No 2.

The telefeature is a labour of love for Runanga-born and raised Paula McTaggart, who comes from a long line of coal miners.  McTaggart has been developing the project since 2007, when a visit to her uncle, the late Ron Gibb, sparked her interest in this largely untold New Zealand tragedy.  Gibb was one of five men from Mines Rescue who received the British Empire Medal for their actions during the tragedy.

“The more he spoke, the more I felt that this was a critical piece of NZ history that had been largely overlooked outside of the West Coast”, McTaggart explains.

“My Uncle and I talked about the possibility of a documentary and he shared with me his knowledge of the tragedy along with the material to go forward.  Ron had a strong desire that the truth be told.”

McTaggart began filming interviews for the project in 2008.  TV3’s Head of Factual, Sue Woodfield, says the documentary’s gripping story of bravery and human resilience in the face of disaster will resonate with all New Zealanders.

“Although this project has been in development for several years, there’s a terrible sense of history repeating itself with the recent tragic events at Pike River, and the current Royal Commission.

“This is a very important film.”

McTaggart says the production team is interested in hearing from anyone who would like to be part of the documentary, at the email address enquries@biggerpicture.co.nz.

“It is important that those involved have the opportunity to contribute to the project,” she says.  “I hope that more people will come forward to tell their individual stories, or to share photos, film footage or other materials.”

Journey into Darkness – The Strongman Tragedy is being produced for TV3 with funding from New Zealand On Air’s Platinum fund which is reserved for high quality programs of historical and cultural importance with a significant relevance to New Zealand and New Zealanders.

The documentary explores disturbing research suggesting that our exposure to everyday electromagnetic fields could be hazardous to our health.

It examines how we are constantly surrounded by radiation – from cell and cordless phones, wi-fi internet, cell towers, powerlines, and even from our electric blankets. Every call you make on a cell or cordless phone is pumping radiation straight into your brain. Every hour your kids spend in a wi-fi enabled classroom is an hour spent immersed in a fog of electromagnetic forces.

Could this invisible radiation cause a devastating public health crisis? Is our new technology the new tobacco or asbestos?

Electromagnetic radiation is now being linked to a host of serious health problems – ranging from depression and miscarriage to Alzheimer’s disease and cancer.

Many scientists and health professionals are now warning that our long-term exposure at levels well below the existing safety standards could result in a massive global public health crisis – worse than crises caused by tobacco or asbestos because we are all exposed.

Is Your Cell Phone Killing You? Will screen on Wednesday, June 22nd at 8:30pm on channel 3.

Piha Rescue Lifeguards

Below is a listing of the top ten programmes on NZTV, recorded as of the 29th of January 2011 via Nielsen TV Audience Measurement.

The top programme being watched is still One news TV ONE, and yet again reality TV shows are dominating the ratings. One programme to watch out for is Shortland Street which returns to TV 2 on the 17th of January. With a strong fan base, and dramatic story line finish last year. It is sure to appear high in the top ten rating programmes on NZTV.

To watch some of these programmes please follow this link to the TVNZ website.

The top programme being watched as of the 29th of October 2010 is Border Security TV ONE. Closely following is The top favourite that has been dominating the top spot for weeks One news.

To watch any of these programs folow the link below: Top Ten Programmes

Danielle

Thousands of hopefuls auditioned to get their 15 minutes of fame but only 14 got the chance to shine and wow the judges and fashion insiders. The models have also had numerous encounters with potential future clients, and these people will make or break careers.

We have watched the NZ top model girls every week, through the ups and the downs, the eliminations , the growth and the triumphs and tribulations. Now it has finally come down to the wire.

We have seen the models sell themselves literally in the streets as one competition asked of them.  We have seen the models lay in a pool of mud and look good, not an easy task for most. And wrestle with a grumpy elephant on the shores of a Thailand beach.

Each week one of our girls has her dreams crushed and is sent packing. Some eliminations good, some very very bad. Some had me thinking they had made the wrong decision over and over again. Lara should not have gone that week in Thailand, Dakota definitely deserved to go, and the crocodile tears were so fake it made me cringe.

But there is no denying that Dakota, 18 from Christ Church has made this year’s NZ next top model journey all the more interesting to watch. Starting with her admitting she was going to turn to the entertainment industry, because she was so desperate for money. Or her continual defensive attacks on girls or the infamous butt joke about poor Lara. I have got to say Dakota you definetly spiced the show up.

As the three models left know, now is the time to shine. They cannot afford any mistakes in this part of the competition because that will be their ticket out the door. As they would have learnt from the recent departure of Courtney a hot favorite for the title from the start.

In the end there will be one. Three contenders are left, from thousands. They have battled it out each week and shown us they have the goods to be in the top spots as models in NZ and internationally. They have given us beautiful photo shoots, strutted their stuff on the cat walk and shown us that they can hold their own in front of future clients such as top NZ designers  and in the public.

And then there was three. Danielle Hayes Maori girl from Kawerau, who entered the competition at the last minute because her friend dared her too. Who is from the town known for its high teenage pregnancy rate in NZ, and didnt really take herself or the competition very seriuosly in the start.

Elza Jenkins the tall and fiery red head twinnie with the biggest and kindest heart in the world.

And lastly African born Michela Steenkamp, the youngest girl left in the competition. Who has also been praised for her awesome bod, but often has been criticised from the judges for not being versatile in her face.

Who will make the final cut? Danielle has been voted by the public as the favorite to win.Who do you think will win?

NZNTM judges

This week is d day, judges Sara Tetro, Chris Sisarich and Colin Mathura-Jeffree will name one of the trio the winner of the all mighty title, as well as a modelling contract, meetings with bigwigs in New York, and a car.

“Throughout this second cycle there has been heated debate amongst the judges over each and every elimination,” Tetro says.

“Choosing a winner is a big responsibility, and one we take incredibly seriously. For the girl it’s life-changing, and for Colin, Chris and I, it’s the culmination of weeks of training, behind-the-scenes support, expert advice and lots and lots of lively debate.”

When, where, what?

What: Final of New Zealand’s Next Top Model
When: 7.30pm, Friday
Where: TV3

To check out photos and watch videos about NZ next top model follow this link: NZNTM