AUGUST 24 2019 LISTENER 67
THAT’S FUNNY: Excel-
lent documentary
series Funny As: The
Story of New Zealand
Comedy has uploaded
a companion series of
director’s cuts onto
TVNZ OnDemand
that feature “all those
candid moments that
couldn’t make the
documentary”. There’s
Lyn of Tawa’s garage, rare filth in the National
Library, a surprised Rose Matafeo, more footage
of Billy T, and David McPhail’s harshest critics –
his family: tinyurl.com/NZLFunnyDirectors. In addition,
NZ On Screen is about to begin uploading 100
extended interviews with the comedians, writers
and performers who appear in the show. The
first interviews go up on nzonscreen.com on
August 19.WEATHER WITH YOU: The recent storms have
been playing havoc, but if you’d like your
weather maps to be just a little bit more
beautiful, an artist and game developer
called Dave Frampton has created some very
pretty pictures that show the polar winds that
have been surging up the country. They are
explained on New Zealand website weatherwatch.
co.nz (tinyurl.com/NZLWeatherMaps), or check out
majicweather.com, Frampton’s “hobby project”,
where he uses freely available weather data to
create amazing images.five of local series The Broken-
wood Mysteries from tomorrow
(7. 3 0 p m).
The Affair (SoHo2, Sky 210,
8.30pm). The Affair has been
over for us for a while, but we
could be enticed back between
the sheets by the addition of
Anna Paquin, who appears
in the fifth and final season,
as the grown-up daughter of
Alison Bailey (Ruth Wilson)
and Cole Lockhart (Joshua
Jackson). Neither Wilson
nor Jackson is appearing in
the season; the focus returns
to Helen (Maura Tierney)
and Noah (Dominic West),
although Helen is engaged in a
new affair with an actor (Claes
Bang) who is starring in a film
adaptation of one of Noah’s
books.
SEAL Team (Prime, 9.45pm).
That is some patriotic
nonsense, right there, but
top-quality patriotic non-
sense, nonetheless. Basically,
the SEAL team led, by David
Boreanaz’s Jace Hayes, saves
Americans and shoots the
bad guys. Prime drops us back
into the middle of season two
and an episode in which one
of the team becomes trapped
in a submarine torpedo tube
(what?). As he did in season
one, Boreanaz directs the
penultimate episode of the
season. It’s been a moderate hit
in the US and another season
is in the works.WEDNESDAY AUGUST 28
Bangers & Cash (Choice TV,
6.30pm). One of those titles
the producers couldn’t resist,Online
Catch of the Week
fly-past over London. There are
recruits learning hair-raising
manoeuvres and more-experi-
enced pilots working on new,
ultra-low aerobatics. There is
also tragedy, when a training
accident throws the season
into jeopardy.
The short documentary
initiative Loading Docs (TVNZ
OnDemand, Thursday) is
now in its sixth year and the
theme in 2019 was “Power”.
The eight documentaries
include Mana Wahine, which
is about Pania Newton, the
leader of Soul, who is fight-
ing to stop development at
Ihumātao; MEME Me, a story
about the “Nek Minnit” guy,
Levi Hawken; Meet Munch Jr,
in which Samoan animator Ali
Cowley works with his autistic
son, Nikau, to bring to life his
own puppet; and Water Baby,
about freediving couple Wil-
liam Trubridge and Sachiko
Fukumoto.SVOD HIGHLIGHT: What’s
good in subscription video
on demand. The Gorgeous
Ladies of Wrestling return!
The third season of Netflix’s
GLOW is set in Las Vegas,
where the ladies are putting
on a show every night
at a casino run by Sandy
Devereaux St Clair (Geena
Davis). Unfortunately, their
opening night is marred by a tragedy – the
Challenger shuttle explosion – that puts a dent
in their space-themed party.Billy T JamesGeena DavisBangers & Cash,
Wednesday.