KEY POINTS:
6PM, TV2
NO OPPORTUNITY WASTED
Three unlikely strangers are stranded in the Australian Outback with Phil Keoghan. Alf will have to confront his arachnophobia, Greg learns to deal with his failing vision and Patrina has to lose control.
7.30PM, TV2
LOST: A TALE OF SURVIVAL
Behind the scenes
of the series, with interviews with executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse.
7.30PM, TV3
CHRISTMAS IN THE PARK
Jeremy Corbett and Jeanette Thomas host the country's biggest Christmas party, with performances from the Outrageous Fortune women, Pluto and Jaquie Brown. Includes backstage interviews and highlights from the Christchurch concert.
8.35PM, PRIME
NO RESERVATIONS
As you'd expect of a tough-talking chef from New Jersey, Anthony Bourdain has nothing but disdain for the fluffy style of cooking shows, such as Jamie Oliver's Naked Chef series. So he is at pains to point out that his globe-trotting series is not a food show.
It's about people, cultures and places, as seen through the eyes of a chef and the prism of food. As in A Cook's Tour, Bourdain makes like a culinary daredevil as he tries to gain insight into a country's culture through its food and dining customs.
One of the episodes is shot in New Zealand when he was invited to speak at Christchurch's Savour food conference. While making that episode, Bourdain managed to roll an all terrain vehicle - and he has similar adventures in other episodes: taking a drunken jump off a 50m cliff into the ocean in Sicily, drinking a hallucinogenic jungle brew in the Amazon, and jumping out of a plane with the Flying Elvis skydiving team.
Tonight, he travels to Paris to explore the food of its working-class ethnic communities. This show will also serve as an appetiser for the upcoming TV comedy Kitchen Confidential, based on Bourdain's racy book of the same name. It begins next Thursday (8pm, TV3) and has Darren Star (Sex and the City) as its executive producer. Bradley Cooper stars as Jack Bourdain, a talented chef with a troubled past who is determined to make it to the top.
MOVIES
[rating out of 5]
8.30PM, TV2
OLD SCHOOL
Herald rating: * * *
Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, and Vince Vaughn star as thirty-something guys with nothing to lose so they start their own fraternity and relive their college days. Similar gags to National Lampoon's Animal House, but it was a reasonable effort for director Todd Phillips, who went on to helm Starsky & Hutch. (2003)
10.20PM, TV2
POLTERGEIST 2
Herald rating: * * *
Their house disappeared down a large supernatural hole in the first film, so the Freeling family relocate, only to be harassed by an evil old preacher representing the man downstairs. (1986)
6PM, SKY MOVIES 2, 8.30PM, SKY MOVIES 1
THE ISLAND
Herald rating: * *
Set in 2019, Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) and Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson) live in a society sheltered from the contaminated environment by giant domes. The citizens hope to win a lottery where the prize is to move to an island paradise. Attempts the impossible: living up to the memory of other false utopia sci-fi flicks, most notably Logan's Run, but with dashes of Total Recall thrown in for good measure. (2005)
SPORT
10.25PM, TV3
MOTORSPORT: A1GP
Things are starting to look up for the New Zealand team after a better effort in the last round in Malaysia. Tonight's round is from Sentul in Indonesia.
9PM, SKY SPORT 1 LIVE
SOCCER: A-LEAGUE
NZ KNIGHTS V ADELAIDE UNITED
Adelaide are one of the few teams who have been defeated by the Knights. No doubt they will be looking to set the record straight at home.
11PM, SKY SPORT 1 LIVE
SOCCER: FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP QUARTER-FINAL
AUCKLAND CITY V AL AHLY
Auckland City are in Japan to take on Egyptian side Al Ahly, the African club champions, to see who meets the South American champion, Internacional de Porto of Brazil, in the first semifinal. That game is live on Wednesday at 11pm on Sky Sport 1.
4.55AM, SKY SPORT 2 LIVE
SOCCER: ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE CHELSEA V ARSENAL
Arsenal look to be regaining some form but they will need all of that and a bit of luck to beat the Blues at home.