Saturday's TV highlights

5.30PM, TV ONE
THE BOOK SHOW
Presenter Emily Perkins and panelists Marcus Lush, Shortland Street's Laura Hill and writer Anna Jackson discuss the new novel by American novelist John Updike; Finlay Macdonald meets children's writer Lloyd Spencer Davis and Wellington novelist Damien Wilkins reveals his reading habits.

6.30PM, PRIME
GREAT OUTDOORS
Ernie joins the world's biggest cruise ship for its maiden voyage, takes a five-star luxury train trip across Africa's most beautiful scenery, and explores India's Venice of the East. Can we come?

7PM, TV2
8 SIMPLE RULES
Cate embarrasses the kids when she throws a party, and Kerry asks another girl to the prom to make a political statement.

7.30PM, TV ONE
NO GOING BACK
A city broker and a fashion-designer give up their well-paid London lifestyle and move to the African bush, running a safari lodge for tourists. Hopefully she's not into fur.

8PM, TV3
WILL & GRACE
When Will discovers his dad's mistress is his mother, he has to find a way to break the news to his dad's girlfriend.


MOVIES
[rated out of 5]

8.30PM, TV2
DROP DEAD GORGEOUS
Herald rating: * *
Kirsten Dunst stars in a mock documentary about a teen beauty contest held in Minnesota. The approach wears thin after a while, but there are some delightful moments of black comedy along the way: the girls sabotage each other's campaigns, culminating in a scene where a contestant is blown up on her tractor. Also stars Brittany Murphy, Denise Richards, and Kirstie Alley. (1999)

8.30PM, TV3
THE BANGER SISTERS
Herald rating: * *
An appalling film about two former Doors groupies (Goldie Hawn, Susan Sarandon) who reconnect after many years to find that they are now polar opposites. Geoffrey Rush also stars, making for a waste of three good talents. (2002)

10.30PM, TV2
TRAFFIC
Herald rating: * * *
Director Stephen Soderbergh's unsettling story of a US Supreme Court Judge (Michael Douglas), appointed to head the Government's war on drugs, who is so busy that he doesn't notice his own daughter's decline into drug addiction.

Meanwhile, other plotlines intersect or brush past each other, with Catherine Zeta-Jones playing the wife of a drug trafficker facing prosecution, and Dennis Quaid appearing as a sleazy lawyer.

Benicio Del Toro turns in the most powerful performance, as Mexican police officer Javier Rodriguez, who makes a major drug bust only to be told by a corrupt general that the matter is out of his jurisdiction.

In true Soderbergh style, different colour filters are used to indicate the different locations and stories being told. Using a hand-held camera, Soderbergh shot the film himself, giving it an almost documentary feel that resonates long after the credits roll. (2000)


8.30PM, SKY MOVIES 1
A PERFECT MURDER
Herald rating: * * * *
A remake of the Hitchcock thriller Dial M for Murder, starring Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow and Viggo Mortensen. Douglas plays a millionaire industrialist who discovers that his wife (Paltrow) is unfaithful. He plots to kill her and cash up her trust fund. Holds up to repeated viewing extremely well. (1998)


SPORT

TRI-NATIONS: SPRINGBOKS V WALLABIES
12.50AM, SKY SPORT 1 LIVE
The Springboks will run on to Ellis Park with a huge boost after making the All Blacks look ordinary, but the Australians should put up a better fight.

SOCCER: FA PREMIERSHIP
MANCHESTER UNITED v TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR
4.10AM, SKY SPORT 2 LIVE
League leaders United take on Spurs in what should be an open encounter.