By REBECCA BARRY
Judging by TV3's programming line-up announcement for next year, there will be as many crime dramas on the channel next year as reality shows on TV2.
But as the secret agents, forensic scientists, morgue workers and undercover cops filling our screens know, there's nothing like a little local
conflict for real drama.
Mikey Havoc and his former sidekick Jeremy "Newsboy" Wells could be confirming the rumours they've dissolved their screen partnership, each hosting their own shows on competing channels.
Havoc's new series Nice Tight Pants - possibly an ode to his days fronting hair-metal band Push Push - could be up against Wells' Eating Media Lunch, which screens Tuesdays on TV2.
Director of programming Kristin Marlow said NTP would screen early in the week in a 9.30pm slot, but couldn't elaborate on the show's content.
Said Havoc in a showreel at yesterday's presentation: "TV3 is my new home. This is where I am going to stay."
TV3 also gets a local series of an animated kind, with Bro' Town promising to satirise Kiwi culture in a non-PC way. Marlow described the series, which has been in the works for two and a half years and is written by the Naked Samoans comedy troupe, as "very metropolitan and edgy".
The show would be getting a prime-time slot, she said.
TV3's other animated windfall is The Simpsons, which the network has swiped from TV2. The new series will screen once a week, and reruns will be in the 7pm slot, Monday to Friday
"Finally we've solved the 7pm problem, with an entree into prime-time viewing," said Marlow.
Asked why the new schedule featured so much crime drama - and more to follow with a third CSI offshoot and a further branch of the Law & Order franchise coming to TV3 - Marlow said it was down to ratings.
"It's the flavour everybody's enjoying at the moment. You can watch several in a week without hitting overload.
"Procedural drama is riding a very big popularity wave. Here and overseas it's rating very well."
NEW REALITY/LIFESTYLE SHOWS
Surfing the Menu: Cooking show with a couple of surf-mad Australian chefs getting topless ... and cooking occasionally.
Sports Tonight: Late-night sports news and entertainment.
The Resort: Contestants do up a run-down resort and get it ready in time for the guests to arrive.
Nice Tight Pants: Mikey Havoc gets his own show to rival former cohort Jeremy Wells.
Garden Wars: Originally called Not Another Makeover Show, this how-to series promises "to take gardening television to the next level".
The Newlyweds: Pop stars Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey let an MTV crew follow their every move.
NEW DRAMA
10-8: Cop drama about a Brooklyn bad boy turned good doing his job in LA.
Jake 2.0: Modern-day Superman drama about a computer geek with superpowers.
Karen Sisco: Baywatch meets CSI - a tough female cop on the beat at a seaside strip.
Naval CIS: Crime drama involving the US Navy and Marines.
Lyon's Den: Courtroom drama starring Rob Lowe as an attorney living in the shadow of his powerful father.
The Handler: FBI agents battling undercover in LA.
Tru Calling: A sexy young psychic working the midnight shift at the NYC morgue.
Joan of Arcadia: Family drama about a teen who has conversations with God.
1-800 Missing: Crime drama about a girl with the ability to find missing people.
NEW COMEDY
The Simpsons: Homer, Marge, Bart and the rest shift to TV3.
Bro' Town: Animated adult series based on the suburban satire of the Naked Samoans theatre group.
It's All Relative: Meet-the-in-laws with a twist - Bobby's parents are strict Roman Catholics, at the family home of Liz are two gay men.
Coupling: All about a group of six friends, most of whom want to be more than friends with each other.
Miss Match: Alicia Silverstone plays a single divorce lawyer who has a knack for match-making.
Married to the Kellys: A loner New York writer is forced to move near to his new wife's large and closeknit family.
SOME SIGNIFICANT RETURNS
24: Third season of ground-breaking drama in which each episode represents an hour in the day of secret agent Jack Bauer.
CSI, CSI Miami and SVU: Gruesome crime dramas.
Everybody Loves Raymond: Ray Romano as the ultimate family man.
Sex and the City: America's best-dressed single girls get ready to meet their next - and final - season of predators, losers and creeps.
Malcolm In the Middle: America's quirkiest nuclear family kicks off with a new member.
Will & Grace: Loopy comedy about a gay lawyer and his neurotic best friend.
By REBECCA BARRY
Judging by TV3's programming line-up announcement for next year, there will be as many crime dramas on the channel next year as reality shows on TV2.
But as the secret agents, forensic scientists, morgue workers and undercover cops filling our screens know, there's nothing like a little local
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