TVNZ has revealed its lineup of programmes for the year with new shows and the return of local and international favourites.
Among the shows set to air are a local take on Love It or List It and “bold and original” new format Stranded on Honeymoon Island – created by the team behind Married at First Sight – as well as Dadolescence, which follows the journeys of a group of teenagers as they deal with the responsibilities of being young fathers.
Other highlights include Off the Grid, where Colin Fassnidge and Manu Feildel embark on a road trip across Aotearoa, getting to know local places, local faces, and local produce – with plenty of banter and antics along the way.
Award-winning presenter Tāmati Rimene-Sproat is returning to our screens with a new series. The show, with the working title The Devil’s in the Data, sees Rimene-Sproat investigate the country’s collective attitudes to life issues, using data to uncover surprising stories about how we live today.
Homegrown shows returning for 2025 include Hyundai Country Calendar, Taskmaster NZ, NZ’s Best Homes with Phil Spencer, Grand Designs NZ, Down for Love, Eat Well for Less NZ, and Endangered Species Aotearoa.
Elsewhere, the team behind Wellington Paranormal bring a distinctly Kiwi comedy in Warren’s Vortex, featuring Lower Hutt dad Warren (Maaka Pohatu), who has a hidden vortex in his garden shed that leads to parallel realities where life in New Zealand is all a bit twisted.
Shortland Street also returns but is now three nights a week rather than five.
Meanwhile, from the US, UK and Australia come a number of dramas, with Molly Parker (House of Cards) starring in DOC, a new medical drama that sees Dr Amy Larsen navigate an unfamiliar world when a brain injury erases the last eight years of her life.
Also coming to our screens are Suits LA, Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, Grosse Pointe Garden Society, Dope Girls, and Invisible Boys, as well as season two of Poker Face, Twisted Metal, and NCIS: Sydney.
“From flagship content to whānau favourites, trusted news, and free-to-air sports, we take pride in delivering a compelling mix of homegrown and international programming that keep viewers coming back, day after day,” said TVNZ Chief Content Officer Nevak Rogers.
“As we look ahead to 2025, TVNZ is dedicated to bringing viewers authentic stories and fresh perspectives on life in Aotearoa, as well as the must-watch entertainment shows from here and overseas.”
Free-to-air sports coverage on TVNZ’s channels and TVNZ+ includes White Ferns and Black Caps cricket, BNZ Breakers and FIBA basketball, Premier League Hockey, ANZ Premiership Netball, and the NFL, including the Super Bowl.
TVNZ’s 10 ‘must-see shows’ of 2025:
1 Off the Grid
Colin Fassnidge and Manu Feildel just can’t get enough of New Zealand! The boys are back to embark on a wildly hilarious Kiwi road trip with their caravan Betty, getting to know local faces, places, and produce – all with their usual dose of banter and antics along the way. Travelling the obvious and not so obvious, food has always been the besties’ vehicle for heartwarming and compelling conversations and there is no better way to get to know someone – somewhere – than by sharing a meal. TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+
2 Suits LA
Ted Black, a former federal prosecutor from New York, has reinvented himself representing the most powerful clients in Los Angeles. His firm is at a crisis point, and in order to survive, he must embrace a role he held in contempt his entire career. Ted is surrounded by a stellar group of characters who test their loyalties to both Ted and each other while they can’t help but mix their personal and professional lives. All of this is going on while we slowly unravel the events that years ago led Ted to leave behind everything and everyone he loved. The series stars Stephen Amell (Arrow), Lex Scott Davis (Rebel), Josh McDermitt (The Walking Dead), and Bryan Greenberg (Emperor of Ocean Park). TVNZ+
3 Love It or List It NZ
The popular international format is getting a Kiwi twist in 2025. Hosted by award-winning interior designer and The Block NZ winner Alex Walls and AA Insurance Location, Location, Location NZ host and real estate agent Paul Glover, we meet homeowners ready for a change. Each episode sees a new family meet Alex, who gets to work transforming their property into their perfect home with a renovation according to their budget and needs. Meanwhile, Paul scours the listings to find them three houses which are perfect for their needs and tries to convince them the grass is truly greener on the other side. At the end of each episode, our homeowners will decide if they want to stay in their freshly renovated home or sell up and move on in Love It or List It NZ. TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+
4 Stranded on Honeymoon Island
A bold and original new adventure dating format, created by the team behind Married at First Sight, will land on Kiwi shores this year. Twelve unlucky-in-love singles are matched by experts and then immediately after committing themselves to each other in an intimate ceremony, will be dramatically abandoned in idyllic isolation for the adventure of a lifetime. On these remote beaches, fledgling relationships are soon put to the test as the couples live together and fend for themselves. Marooned and alone, they must communicate and collaborate to get by, with nowhere to run when the going gets tough. Will an escape from modern life bring them closer together or push them apart? Narrated by Australian radio royalty, Jackie O. TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+
5 Warren’s Vortex
Avid barbecuer Warren Harrison (Maaka Pohatu) has had a time wormhole in his shed for about 18 years, which he’s used only to dump his lawn clippings. When his daughter Lucy (Louise Jiang) falls into it on her 18th birthday, Warren jumps in after her and together, they go on an adventure to hilarious parallel versions of their own reality in their quest to get home. Across the series, this lovable Kiwi dad and his nerdy daughter travel to multiple worlds, including one where sentient refrigerators rule the planet; one where everyone is forced to live in cardboard boxes due to trillion-dollar house prices; and a world where rugby and sport never happened in New Zealand – horrifying for Warren but a utopia for Lucy. Or is it? Added to their adventures is the fact that in each reality, Warren and Lucy meet crazy alternate versions of their friends and family, played by a range of New Zealand’s best comedic talent including Cohen Holloway, Millen Baird, Ginette McDonald, and Kali Kopae. Made with support from NZ On Air. TVNZ 2
6 Grosse Pointe Garden Society
Grosse Pointe Garden Society follows four members of a suburban garden club who find their lives intertwined by scandal, mischief, and a shared secret – a murder no one wants to talk about. As dark truths begin to rot their lives under the surface, they struggle to remain as perfect as the flowers blooming in their garden above. The cast includes AnnaSophia Robb, Melissa Fumero, Ben Rappaport, Aja Naomi King, Alexander Hodge, Nancy Travis, Matthew Davis, and Felix Wolfe. TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+
7 The Casketeers – Life and Death Around the Globe
Through their utterly unique, entertaining, and charming viewfinder – Kaiora and Francis Tipene are set to explore life and death around the world. They’ll be delving into not only the cultures and rituals in death, but the lives of the people they encounter – their whānau, their culture, and their beliefs. Rather than just view, Kaiora and Francis participate in the rituals, getting to the very heart of these diverse cultures. Francis makes his inaugural trip to his father’s homeland of Tonga, reconnecting with his Pasifika whakapapa. This episode will be a special journey of rediscovery for him, as well as an opportunity to shed light on the traditional practices of our Tongan whanaunga. Tongan traditions allow loved ones to grieve communally so that no one must mourn in isolation. Kaiora and Francis also experience the diversity of Japan’s ancient indigenous culture alongside the modern cutting-edge technology that includes funeral practices – right up Francis’ alley – alongside surrendering themselves to the sensory overload that is India. Made with the support of NZ On Air and Te Māngai Pāho. TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+
8 DOC
Molly Parker (House of Cards) stars as the hard-charging, brilliant Dr Amy Larsen, Chief of Internal Medicine at Westside Hospital in Minneapolis. After a brain injury erases the last eight years of her life, Amy must navigate an unfamiliar world where she has no recollection of patients she’s treated, colleagues she’s crossed, the man she loves, or the tragedy that caused her to push everyone away. She can rely only on her estranged 17-year-old daughter, whom she remembers as a 9-year-old, and a handful of devoted friends, as she struggles to continue practicing medicine despite having lost nearly a decade of knowledge and experience. TVNZ 2 and TVNZ+
9 Don’t
Comedian Bubbah Olo is staring down the barrel of turning 30. The big questions are looming – get married, have kids, buy a house? Don’t is a funny and irreverent three-part series exploring the contemporary choices facing our rangitahi today. In each episode, Bubbah is joined by a fellow comedian who is also at the same crossroads. Together they’ll dig deep – consulting experts, taking it to the streets, and trying it for real themselves. Bubbah will leave no stone unturned to decipher whether having kids, getting married, and buying a house is still “the dream” in 2025. Made with the support of NZ On Air. TVNZ+
10 Dead Ahead
Dead Ahead is a brand-new local comedy series that follows the Wharekoa whānau as they return to Aotearoa after a decade abroad only to discover they have somehow shifted the balance between the spiritual and physical realms. The whānau is led by Kiri (Miriama Smith), a high-powered lawyer with an agenda for returning home. Her secret plans disrupt the delicate balance between past and present, unleashing three tīpuna into the Wharekoa household hoping to guide the whānau in the right direction. Will Kiri manage to keep her secrets hidden or will her tīpuna guide her to make the right choices? Made with the support of NZ On Air and Te Māngai Pāho. TVNZ+
