Foxtel continue to draw some of the best new content from the US as well as deliver the return seasons for their successful standards. With all these new shows kicking off in September and October we won’t be short of TV to watch (Last Man Standing doesn’t count). From the press release:
FOX8 ROLLS OUT MASSIVE LINEUP OF EXCLUSIVE US CONTENT
Get set for a massive two months as FOX8 launches an epic line-up of premium US programming featuring exciting new series, returning favourites and express content. From first-run drama to top-rating comedy and innovative reality, FOX8 has it all this spring.
Headlining the September schedule is the American version of Naomi Campbell’s modelling competition show, THE FACE US, premiering on FOX8 on Tuesday, September 24 at 8.30pm. This one-hour series features three of the most successful models in the world – Campbell, Karolina Kurkova and Coco Rocha – as they use their unparalleled knowledge of the modelling industry to mentor their teams of up and coming models.
September will also see the Australian premiere of BABY DADDY (Sun Sept 29 at 6.30pm), a new half-hour sitcom about 20-something Ben (Jean-Luc Bilodeau) who suddenly becomes a surprise dad to a baby girl when she’s left on his doorstep by an ex-girlfriend. Two top rating dramas will both be returning for a second series express from the US – REVOLUTION, the sci-fi adventure thriller from producer J.J. Abrams (Thu Sept 26 at 8.30pm); and CHICAGO FIRE, the high octane drama series starring Aussie Jesse Spencer (Sun Sept 29 at 8.30pm.)
Also on FOX8 in September is the second series of the award-winning teen drama SWITCHED AT BIRTH (Fridays at 7.30pm); and the third season of the Tim Allen comedy series LAST MAN STANDING (Sun Sept 29 at 7.00pm). The action doesn’t stop there with October set for a huge month of premieres on FOX8.
One of the hottest new shows from the recent LA screenings, THE CRAZY ONES, will premiere exclusively on FOX8 on Sunday, October 20 at 8.00pm. The series stars Oscar winner Robin Williams as a renowned advertising genius whose unorthodox methods would get him fired – if he weren’t the boss! Another new series, STRIKE BACK – a globe-spanning thriller that focuses on two members of a top-secret intelligence agency – will also have its Australian premiere on FOX8 on Wednesday, October 16 at 9.30pm.
And the massive line-up of express content continues in October, with the return of four hugely popular drama series ALL express from the US – season 5 of the supernatural drama THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (Fri Oct 4 at 8.30pm); season three of the Rachel Bilson drama HART OF DIXIE (Mon Oct 14 at 8.30pm); season two of the Sex and the City prequel THE CARRIE DIARIES (Tue Oct 29 at 8.30pm) and season three of the police procedural fantasy GRIMM (Wed Oct 30 at 8.30pm).
FOX8’s SEPTEMBER LINEUP
SWITCHED AT BIRTH S2 – Fridays at 7.30pm
This award-winning hit drama tells the story of two teenage girls who discover they were accidentally switched as newborns in the hospital. Bay Kennish (Vanessa Marano) grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and a brother, while Daphne Vasquez (Katie Leclerc), who lost her hearing at an early age due to a case of meningitis, grew up with a single mother in a poor neighbourhood. Things come to a dramatic head when both families meet and struggle to learn how to live together for the sake of the girls. This family drama explores blended families and deaf culture, with an array of deaf and hard-of-hearing actors.THE FACE – Tuesday, September 24 at 8.30pm
Hosted by photographer Nigel Barker, THE FACE is an innovative, one-hour modelling competition show where three of the most successful models in the world – Naomi Campbell (who also serves as executive producer), Coco Rocha and Karolina Kurkova – use their unparalleled knowledge of the modelling industry to mentor their teams of up and coming models. These next generation super models will go head-to-head for the ultimate prize – becoming The Face of a major national brand.REVOLUTION S2 – Thursday, September 26 at 8.30pm EXPRESS FROM THE US
This epic adventure thriller from Eric Kripke and J.J. Abrams follows a family as they struggle to reunite in a post-apocalyptic American landscape: a world of empty cities, local militias and heroic freedom fighters, where every single piece of technology – computers, planes, cars, phones, even lights – has mysteriously blacked out … forever. A grand romantic saga with sweeping scope and intimate focus, this drama is also about family – both the family you’re born into, and the family you choose. This is a swashbuckling journey of hope and rebirth, seen through the eyes of one strong-willed young woman, Charlie Matheson (Tracy Spiridakos).BABY DADDY S1 – Sunday, September 29 at 6.30pm
Baby Daddy, is a half-hour comedy series about Ben (Jean-Luc Bilodeau) who, in his 20s, becomes a surprise dad to a baby girl when she’s left on his doorstep by an ex-girlfriend. Ben decides to raise the baby with the help of his mother Bonnie (Melissa Peterman), his brother Danny (Derek Theler), his best buddy Tucker (Tahj Mowry) and his close female friend, Riley (Chelsea Kane), who is harbouring a secret crush on him. BABY DADDY is a multi-camera comedy shot in front of a live studio audience in Los Angeles.LAST MAN STANDING S3 – Sunday, September 29 at 7.00pm
The Baxter clan returns for more laughs in this third season of the hit US comedy that follows the trials and tribulations of Mike Baxter (Tim Allen). After Mike’s wife, Vanessa, (Nancy Travis) receives a promotion at work, Mike must spend more time in his female dominated household. With years of advice and guidance from their nurturing mother, Mike’s three daughters are not prepared for their old-fashioned, hotheaded father to take over.CHICAGO FIRE S2 – Sunday, September 29 at 8.30pm EXPRESS FROM THE US
This high octane drama series starring Aussie Jesse Spencer will return to FOX8 Express from the US in September. For the firefighters, rescue squad and paramedics of Chicago Firehouse 51, no occupation is more stressful or dangerous, yet so rewarding and exhilarating. These courageous men and women are among the elite who forge headfirst into danger when everyone else is running the other way and whose actions make the difference between life and death. The pressure to perform on such a high level has a way of taking a personal toll, sometimes putting team members from the Truck and the specially trained Rescue Squad at odds with each other. Despite any differences, this is an extended family, and when it’s “go time,” everyone inside Firehouse 51 knows no other way than to lay it all on the line for each other. Also stars Taylor Kinney, Teri Reeves, Eamonn Walker, Monica Raymund and David Eigenberg.FOX8’s OCTOBER LINEUP
THE VAMPIRE DIARIES S5 – Friday, October 4 at 8.30pm EXPRESS FROM THE US
Based on the series of books by L. J. Smith, THE VAMPIRE DIARIES is a supernatural drama set in the fictional town of Mystic Falls – a small town haunted by supernatural beings. The series heads into its fifth season with some characters headed off to college, a newly cured vampire trying to survive as a human, and a shocking Salvatore secret.HART OF DIXIE S3 – Monday, October 14 at 8.30pm EXPRESS FROM THE US
Rachel Bilson leads a stellar ensemble cast in this fish-out-of-water comedic drama about small-town living, big city attitudes and complicated love triangles. It’s been nearly two years
since Dr. Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson) moved to BlueBell, Alabama, and shook up life in this small town. Now Zoe navigates between bad boy Wade Kinsella (Wilson Bethel) and good hearted George Tucker (Scott Porter). Zoe’s love life is still a mess, and she’s not sure what the future holds in store for her, but it is sure to be juicy and full of fun.STRIKE BACK – Wednesday, October 16 at 9.30pm
A high-octane, globe-spanning thriller with storylines ripped from today’s headlines, STRIKE BACK focuses on two members of a top-secret intelligence agency known as Section 20: Michael Stonebridge (Philip Winchester), a British sergeant on the elite counter-terrorism team, and Damien Scott (Sullivan Stapleton), a former U.S. Delta Force operative who was discharged on the eve of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Stonebridge, Scott and the rest of Section 20 criss-cross the globe on the trail of a deadly international terrorist who is planning a major attack involving a cache of WMD that could have global repercussions.THE CRAZY ONES – Sunday, October 20 at 8.00pm
Oscar-winner Robin Williams returns to his television roots with his signature brand of humour in the inspired workplace comedy THE CRAZY ONES. As a renowned advertising genius whose unorthodox methods would get him fired – if he weren’t the boss – he heads a powerful agency with the biggest clients and brands in the world. The office is staffed with an eclectic group intent on keeping his antics in check, including his daughter Sydney (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who often questions her father’s sanity while trying to make a name for herself in the advertising world.THE CARRIE DIARIES S2 – Tuesday, October 29 at 8.30pm EXPRESS FROM THE US
It’s the summer of 1985, and, for the first time, 17-year-old Carrie Bradshaw (Anna Sophia Robb) can call Manhattan home. After her boyfriend Sebastian (Austin Butler) and best friend Maggie (Katie Findlay) betrayed her, Carrie is happy to accept the offer to spend the summer living in the downtown loft apartment of her Interview magazine boss Larissa (Freema Agyeman). But as summer turns to fall and Carrie heads into her senior year, she and her friends and family discover that letting go of old loves and embracing new dreams comes with some tough new realities but also incredible new opportunities.GRIMM S3 – Wednesday, October 30 at 8.30pm EXPRESS FROM THE US
After Portland Homicide Detective Nick Burkhardt (David Giuntoli) discovers he’s descended from an elite line of criminal profilers known as “Grimms,” he increasingly finds his responsibilities as a detective at odds with his new responsibilities as a “Grimm”. His attempts to shield his fiancée, Juliette Silverton (Bitsie Tulloch), and his partner, Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby), from the hazards of his new life have reached a crisis, leaving Juliette in a mysterious coma and Hank on the verge of a mental breakdown. With help from his confidants, Monroe (Silas Weir Mitchell) and Rosalee (Bree Turner) – both reformed Grimm creatures, Nick must help those closest to him while still facing off against all manner of ancient evils, including royal lines dating back to the original profilers themselves, the Grimm Brothers.