TVNZ'S initially confusing Duke channel, described as a male-skewed channel when it began broadcasting earlier this year, is beginning to offer some good stuff.
We have enjoyed Angie Tribeca, starring the lovely Rashida Jones, despite it being possibly the silliest comedy on TV at the moment.
Next Monday at 8.30pm Duke broadcasts the excellent New Zealand movie What We Do in the Shadows.
Starring Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement and very good director Taika Waititi, What We Do in the Shadows is a surprisingly hilarious vampire-horror-comedy romp released in 2014.
It follows the strange fortunes of Viago, Deacon, and Vladislav, Wellington-based vampires struggling with mundane matters like paying rent, keeping up with the chores, trying to get into nightclubs, and overcoming flatmate conflicts.
The movie applies what has become New Zealand's homegrown style of humour - Rhys Darby plays an obligatory role as the leader of a werewolf pack with a concern for keeping his pack's clothing in good condition - and comes up with the goods.
Well worth watching if you haven't seen it already.
If that's not enough to look forward to, extraordinarily young versions of Jason Priestley and Shannen Doherty wake to find themselves with a 90210 address on Sky's Jones channel from August 29.
As Brandon and Brenda Walsh, fresh from Minneapolis, Minnesota, the pair could not have imagined they were in episode one of what would become that terrible cultural phenomenon of the 1990s, Beverly Hills 90210.
The haircuts are amazing, and the fashion shocking.
The petulant pair head off to West Beverly Hills High to experience some grade-A culture shock when they become exposed to the glamour, wealth, and privilege that their new classmates possess.
Brandon accidentally spreads a rumour about sleeping with a notorious party girl, while Brenda uses a fake ID to get into a nightclub.
It's all on!
Then, of course, there is You're Back in the Room NZ on TV2 on Sunday at 7pm.
Jason Gunn hosts the show where four Kiwis play simple games for money, but hang on a minute, wait for it, here it comes ... all while hypnotised!
The show is based on a British television game show that has been broadcasting on ITV since last year.
Contestants are given straightforward tasks, but under deep hypnosis given distracting tics or quirks that hinder their ability to compete.
I'm going to go ahead right now and say I don't believe people can get hypnotised to do the sort of stupid things one sees them do on television.
I'm also going to say I can't believe someone looked at this show and thought it would be a great idea to make a New Zealand version.
Were they hypnotised?
- by Charles Lougherty
