WEEK 44: SATURDAY 31 OCTOBER - FRIDAY 6 NOVEMBER

HIT PIC - GLEE, Friday, November 6th at 7:30pm: American critics have hailed the series as one of the best new shows of the season, and audiences agree The brainchild of Ryan Murphy, the creator of Nip/Tuck, Glee is about a group of social outcasts, misfits and rejects who come together to form a less than respected Glee club. With the help of their enthusiastic teacher - their aim is to make it to the state champs and become stars. This could sound like a giant clich, but under Murphy's direction, Glee is anything but. In fact, Glee is one of the standout gems of the American spring season. It is packed full of quirky but complex characters and teams an innocent purity with a rather off beat and at times cutting sense of humour. Murphy says, "The show really is about underdogs, and I think the key to the tone and the heart of the show is that people will love them because they are underdogs." After the success of Nip/Tuck, Murphy says he wanted "to do a show that appeals to everybody. I've done a cable show and that to me was a big challenge." Glee is a huge change in direction for Murphy, "I've done sort of eight years of darkness and really adult stuff, and I was like, OK, I want to try something different. I want to do a show that has a bigger heart and is kinder, but make no mistake. It still has an edge, and they've [Fox, Glee's production company] been supportive of that." While Glee is jam-packed full of magical musical numbers, it certainly isn't The Sound of Music. "I was interested in doing a musical, but I wanted to do sort of a post-modern musical" Murphy explains. He says that he wasn't interested in doing a show where people suddenly burst into song. Murphy had three rules; characters could sing when they are performing, when they are in the rehearsal room or in fantasy sequences. "I think that, for me, gave it some sort of life and structure, and I think that makes it more accessible to people." The cast of Glee won't be found singing when they should be talking! Murphy summaries Glee by saying, "I wanted it to be snarky, and I wanted it to have attitude, and I also wanted it to have heart, and I wanted the musical numbers to be spectacular." NEW SERIES - INSIDE NEW ZEALAND: THE $181 DREAM, Wednesday, November 4th at 9:30pm: Inside New Zealand: The $181 Dream, tells the story of the Auckland mother and daughter who bought a Christchurch eatery off of Trade-Me for $181 and their battle to open their dream restaurant.

On the, lucky for some, unlucky for others, date of Friday the 13th Theresa Cowan made a Trade-Me bid of $181 on a restaurant that had been listed as a no reserve auction. To her delight she won the bid and invited her mother, Kathy Dryfhout, to join forces. For roughly the price of dinner out for a family of four Theresa bought a restaurant fitted out with $100,000 worth of chattels. "I got on Trade-Me, basically there was 20 minutes left of an auction... and I won it!," Theresa told TV3's Campbell Live during the time of the purchase of the pizza restaurant in Northlands Mall. Now with over $6,000 a month in overheads, and an estimated $60,000 needed to get the restaurant running, Theresa and Kathy are scrapping, begging and borrowing in order to open their dream restaurant. "Because we had no time to think about the auction when we paid $181 we didn't anticipate the huge cost it would take to launch this," Theresa told Campbell Live. "But we've stuck with it and we've tried really really hard and I think a lot of people would've given up by now because we've had so many brick walls to deal with," she continued. However with the help of Mr. Cookie Time, Michael Mayell, and Mike Pero, Theresa and Kathy are now 'raising the dough' through the very medium that got them into this in the first place - Trade-Me. "People help those who help themselves and they have bitten off a big chunk and they're giving it a go and good on them and I'd love to see them succeed," Michael Mayell told Campbell Live about what attracted him to get involved in the project. "Possibly they don't know what they're getting themselves into but it's all fun and I think the enthusiasm will get them through it," Mike Pero added.

SERIES - NURSE JACKIE, Tuesday, November 3rd at 9:30pm: This week sees a reunion of sorts when former The Sopranos star and cult actor Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs) steps behind the camera to direct Nurse Jackie, screening on Tuesday, November 3rd at 9:30pm on 3.

Buscemi will be joining his The Sopranos co-star Edie Falco, who stars as the title character Jackie Peyton, a New York City emergency-room nurse who is at once saint (nurse, wife, mother) and sinner (addicted to pain killers, adulterer, vigilante). Buscemi says Falco has expunged almost all traces of her former character, that of mob wife Carmela Soprano on The Sopranos, for her role as the not so conventional nurse. "I'm not thinking of Carmela at all," he says, comparing Falco's latest incarnation to the role with which she'd become identified for nearly a decade. "This character is so strong, and Edie's such a strong actor, that I don't think for a moment the audience is going to think about Carmela when they see Jackie." As for her part, Falco, who since wrapping up The Sopranos has only appeared in four episodes of 30 Rock and in Three Backyards, a feature directed by Eric Mendelsohn, says Nurse Jackie proved a perfect series to make her full-time television comeback to. When choosing her next project, the actress explains that she was looking for fresh material. As well as this, Falco's new series also had to cater to a recent shift in her personal life - in the last year she has adopted a second child. "Is it harder having kids and working?" she says. "It definitely is, but the payoff is you get to go home to your kids, and it all balances out. And I know I'm a better mother when I'm engaged in something outside of the house." Richie Jackson, Falco's manager and a co-executive producer of Nurse Jackie, says he helped her navigate the offers that poured in after she announced her availability. "She only would sign on once a script was written," Jackson explains. "She wouldn't sign on to an idea or a development deal. She really responds to a script, and once she reads it can feel in her body in a kinetic way whether it's right for her." And a script by Evan Dunsky about an emergency room nurse on the brink certainly felt righ...

3 SPORT - HORSERACING: EMIRATES MELBORNE CUP, Tuesday, November 3rd at 4:30pm: Penny Ydgren presents live coverage of the race that stops two nations, 3 Sport Horseracing. Melbourne Cup Day is Australia and New Zealand's most famous Tuesday. For around 3 minutes 20 seconds on the first Tuesday in November, Australians and New Zealanders everywhere stop for one of the world's most famous horse races - the Melbourne Cup. In Melbourne, Cup Day is a public holiday for the metropolitan area, and the highlight of the Spring Racing Carnival. It is the day when the nation stops whatever it's doing to listen to or watch the race. With thousands of attendees dressed in traditional formal race-day wear, and others in all manners of exotic and amusing costumes, the racetrack fashions often overshadow the business of horseracing. Billed as "the race that stops a nation", the event was first held on the first Tuesday of November in 1861. Since its debut, the Melbourne Cup has developed in to one of the world's most famous horseracing event with a record of 400,000 race fans attending the Melbourne Cup Carnival in 2007. It is also the one day those who don't usually bet, try their luck with a small wager or entry into a "sweep".

SPECIAL HIGHLIGHT - 7 DAYS, Friday, October 23rd at 10:05pm: We've all seen their conflicts on The Jaquie Brown Diaries, now following the second season premiere of their Qantas award-winning comedy, Jaquie Brown and Madeleine Sami go head-to-head on 7 Days.

THE JAQUIE BROWN DIARIES - Friday, October 23rd at 9:35pm: Jaquie Brown the person reprises her role as Jaquie Brown the character when the Qantas award-winning comedy The Jaquie Brown Diaries premieres its second season.

Since losing her job on McHuntly at 7 for trying to get Serita (Madeleine Sami) fired, Jaquie has hit rock bottom. She and Tom (Ryan Lampp) have left their Cox's Bay dream home for a crappy apartment above K road and Jaquie has been lending her C-grade celebrity status to a carpet factory to pay the bills. "In this series I'm out in the celebrity wilderness, doing product endorsements, going on lame reality shows, all the degrading things I'll probably end up doing when the series is over," Brown explains of her character's current misfortunes. Meanwhile, as Jaquie struggles, Serita has gone on to become one of TV3's most valued assets, has her own show coming out and a top ten single. "It's sort of like a parallel universe in which Serita has adopted all of Jaquie's achievements in this world," explains Gerard Johnstone, the series' writer. "She even has her own sitcom, which everyone thinks is brilliant, even though it's cheap, unoriginal and doesn't make any sense." Now with her celebrity status disappearing right before her eyes, Jaquie's only chance to climb back up the media ladder is co-hosting a midday radio show with the equally bitter and even more disgruntled James Coleman. "James and I worked together at Channel Z back in the early 2000's and we didn't get on," Brown says about the addition of Coleman to the series. "It's been very therapeutic for both James and I to put these demons to rest for the sake of comedy," she adds. But the fictional Jaquie's never been know to take things lying down, and with the help of friend and publicist Kim Sharee (Hannah Banks) she's now more determined then ever to get back on television. Make sure not to miss her struggles of conquering the New Zealand media industry when The Jaquie Brown Diaries returns for a second season.

3 MOVIES LINE-UP - WEEK 44

Saturday Premiere: Evan Almighty, Saturday, October 31st at 8:30pm: Emmy-nominee Steve Carell, reprising his role as the polished, preening newscaster Evan Baxter of Bruce Almighty, is the next person selected by God to perform a holy mission in this hilarious comedy. Newly elected to Congress, Evan's life is turned upside-down when God appears and mysteriously commands him to build an ark. But his befuddled family just can't decide whether Evan is having an extraordinary mid-life crisis or is truly on to something of Biblical proportions. Also starring Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman, John Goodman, and Lauren Graham.

Late Movie: Kinsey, Saturday, October 31st at 10:30pm: Kinsey is a portrait of a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research, Alfred Kinsey, driven to uncover the most private secrets of a nation. What begins for Kinsey as a scientific endeavour soon takes on an intensely personal relevance, ultimately becoming an unexpected journey into the mystery of human behaviour. Starring Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, and Chris O'donnell.

Movie: Ready When You Are Mr McGill, Sunday, November 1st at 10:30pm: A biting satire on the television industry based on Jack Rosenthal's award-winning original teleplay, Ready When You Are, Mr. McGill features an all-star British cast that includes Academy Award-nominee Tom Courtenay and Bill Nighy. This film charts a day in the life of Joe McGill, an extra with just one line to complete in the film. The behind-schedule film crew has a single crucial scene left to shoot and all Joe McGill needs to do is get it right. Just 16 words to say - his first-ever speaking part as a film extra - rehearsed to perfection. But when it comes to Joe's big scene, he just can't seem to get the words out - will Mr. McGill ever be ready?

Monday Movie: Black Hawk Down, Monday, November 2nd at 8:30pm: From acclaimed director Ridley Scott and based on actual events, Black Hawk Down is the heroic account of the October 1993 U.S. military mission in Mogadishu, Somalia that went disastrously wrong. The objective was to abduct two lieutenants of a Somali warlord, as part of a strategy to quell the civil war that was ravaging the country. But when two seemingly invincible Black Hawk helicopters were shot down over the city, the mission completely changed into a desperate race to rescue the surviving flight crews and soldiers on the ground. Starring Sam Shepard, Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, and William Fichtner.