Country Calendar has us watching grass grow – and it's captivating!

Plus: Robert de Niro's new political thriller, Bridget Jones is back and the soothing balm of a 2001 documentary about Georgina Beyer.

Country Calendar remains the master of observational storytelling

From the moment Hyundai Country Calendar returned to our screens last Sunday night, I was transfixed. The opening shot of the show’s 59th year was a beautiful work of art: a musterer on his horse, climbing up a dark ridge at sunrise. As the sky filled with soft morning blues and greys, the farmer whistled and called to his dogs and the iconic Country Calendar theme song began to twang gently in the background. It was perfection in a single frame.

Country Calendar kicked off its 59th year by taking us to Hukarere Station, a 7,500 hectare property in West Otago, located 50 minutes drive north of Gore. Here, Quintin and Rebecca Hazlett run a certified organic sheep and cattle farm, where they work in harmony with nature and embrace the property’s native biodiversity. “We’re constantly trying to find solutions to natural questions,” Quintin says.

As always, Country Calendar takes us right into the everyday life of the Hazletts. We’re there as Quintin and Rebecca begin to move a mob of sheep, with the show’s simple, understated commentary explaining things to those of us who haven’t touched real grass for a long time. “These hoggets need to be mustered and taken back to the station. It’s time for them to be shorn,” says the steady voice of narrator Dan Henry, as the sheep hurtle along a gravel road directly towards the camera.

Later, we delve into grass. “He needs good grass growth to fatten stock,” Henry tells us, followed by a more detailed explanation about the role of rotational feeding from Quintin. This episode reveals I have also been practicing rotational feeding for many years, although mine has involved several kitchen cupboards, rather than rich, green pasture.

We watch as Quintin and Rebecca move the “free-spirited” sheep six kilometres to the yards, and later, we see their family and the shearing crew enjoy an end of day barbecue beside the river. It’s a team effort: everyone works hard, the hoggets behave and the sun shines all day. There are mentions of a cold, wet spring and endless depressing skies, but not today. Today, Hukarere Station has never looked better.

It may have been just another week in the Hazlett’s farming life, but this episode of Country Calendar was anything but ordinary. Every landscape was spectacular, from the slow glide of the river to the endlessly rolling green hills. Watching grass grow shouldn’t make for good primetime TV, but Country Calendar always pulls it off. I was here for the turf, I was here for the worms, I was here for Quintin saying he liked a particular breed of sheep because “they don’t need their hand held”.

Country Calendar is the master of gentle, observational storytelling. The Hazletts are ordinary people, but Country Calendar took their everyday lives and made it special, just as it has done for the past six decades. The show has so far survived the challenges that have seen other long-running, iconic New Zealand shows like Fair Go and Sunday disappear from our screens in the past year, and continues to transcend rural and urban boundaries, showcasing a variety of unique and inspiring stories from New Zealand’s rural heartland.

Like a hogget who doesn’t need its hand held, there’s no other creature quite like Country Calendar on our screens. We must treasure it.

Hyundai Country Calendar screens on Sundays at 7pm on TVNZ1 and streams on TVNZ+.

Why you should watch: Bryn & Ku’s Singles Club

In this week’s episode, Bryn and Ku open up about the realities of wanting to have kids while also being single, and Kura shares the decision-making behind freezing her eggs. The pair then go on the hunt for a rich farmer at the Hunt Ball in South Canterbury, and meet a local woman who describes herself as a “non-breeding ewe”. Visiting Brynley’s Dad and her Oma they sit down to a home cooked meal and some home truths about relationships, including what it takes to sustain a marriage over six decades. They then hit the streets and join a Christchurch social run club, taking the plunge into new experiences in more ways than one.

Why you should watch: Zero Day (Netflix)

Robert de Niro makes his small screen debut in Netflix’s latest political conspiracy thriller Zero Day, which follows a former US president he is called out of retirement to locate the source of a devastating global cyberattack. Is the former president the right man for the job, or has he been set up? Can’t wait to see de Niro sort everything out as America collapses before his very eyes in a drama that couldn’t be more timely. De Niro leads an impressive ensemble cast that includes Jesse Plemons, Lizzy Caplan, Connie Britton, Angela Bassett and Joan Allen.

• You might also like: Reacher (Prime Video) A third season of the action-packed thriller based on Lee Child’s popular book series dropped this week, with lone wolf Jack Reacher still travelling from town to town, solving one crime at a time.

Why you should watch: Georgie Girl (NZ OnScreen)

If you need to see some kindness in the face of bigotry right now, I can highly recommend rewatching Georgie Girl, the 2001 documentary made by Peter Wells and Annie Goldson which is available in full on NZ On Screen. Following Georgina Beyer's journey from trans sex worker in the city to elected MP in the traditionally-conservative regions, the documentary captures a version of Aotearoa at its best – empathetic, warm, welcoming and frequently really fucking funny.

“Anybody new arriving in town… you tended to hear about it,” one local says, wryly reflecting on the arrival of a Māori sex worker, drag performer and trans woman arriving into the largely white and conservative electorate in the mid 90s. “It was quite a new ballgame for Carterton people.” A soothing balm for the moment, and a remarkable story best summed up by another local Chris Burt: “a former prostitute arrives in town and three years later she is the mayor. It just doesn’t happen really, does it? But it did.” / Alex Casey

More pop culture news from The Spinoff

• “I thought it was a scam”: New Zealand star Morgana O’Reilly told us about getting the White Lotus call in this week’s My Life in TV interview.

• We also ranked the most unforgettable and intoxicating characters of The White Lotus so far, and gave our verdict on the first episode of the new season.

• And with Morgana O’Reilly landing a starring role in The White Lotus, we wondered: has there ever been so many New Zealanders appearing on international TV shows?

• Looking for something good to stream this weekend? Here’s this week’s trusty new to steaming list.

• This week’s Friday Poem is a new poem by Freya Turnbull.

• Troy Rawhiti-Connell reviews Kua Tupu Te Ara, a documentary chronicling the meteoric rise of Aotearoa’s groundbreaking metal band.

• Duncan Sarkies’ latest novel is about the collapse of democracy in a society of alpaca breeders – here’s 11 things he learned.

• Claire Mabey asks if book blurbs are anything more than a circle jerk.

• Finally, I took one for the team and got some first hand experience on how to travel luxuriously in Thailand, for less.

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Why you should watch: Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (in cinemas)

Claire Mabey watched the latest Bridget Jones sequel and in her review on The Spinoff (coming this weekend), she reckons the film shows just how far old mate Bridget has come: “It’s a far more satisfying story than Bridget Jones’ Baby, which teetered too far towards the tacky. This last hurrah is weighty without losing any of its comedic light,” Claire writes. “Despite the loss and pain in her life, or perhaps even because of it, Bridget is thriving: the film offers a middle-aged woman who is excellent at her job (‘the best producer we ever had’), who is a loving mother, a joy to be around; she is messy, wise and warm. It’s a refreshing, lighthearted but far from candy-covered, homage to facing mortality and smiling and swearing and singing at it (there’s a banging soundtrack including Eartha Kitt, David Bowie, Fatboy Slim, and The Clash). Mad About the Boy is the ultimate affirmation of ‘I like you, Bridget. Just as you are.’”

Before we pop off…

• Alex Casey has the real story behind Christchurch’s internet-famous Timezone building.

• Escaping Utopia - the New Zealand documentary about leaving Gloriavale – has screened in the UK, earning four stars from The Guardian and being praised for its “quiet and considered” approach.

• And as we bask in the last few days of summer, Shanti Mathias takes us on a tour of New Zealand’s best outdoor pools.

That’s it for Rec Room for this week. If you liked what you read, why not share Rec Room with your friends and whānau.