First look: M-Net Series Showcase

ELLEN DEGENERES 10
STARTS 9 JULY 18:00 (new episodes of Ellen to start in September)

THE ELLEN DeGENERES SHOW continues to be the biggest talk show destination for laughter and fun, highlighting Ellen's one-of-a-kind observational humor, warmth and insight, and featuring the biggest stars from television, film, music and more.

BABY DADDY 2
STARTS 9 JULY 19:00

A young man becomes a surprise dad, in Baby Daddy, when he comes home to find that his ex-girlfriend has left a baby girl on his doorstep. Now Ben has to leave his bachelor life behind to raise his new daughter, with the help of his best buddies Riley and Tucker, his brother Danny and his overprotective mother, Bonnie.

Season 2 sees more romantic tension between Danny, Riley and Ben- but will the friends finally see each other’s feelings or will they be lost in the commotion of raising baby Emma?

CASTLE 5
STARTS 9 JULY 19:30

Richard Castle is a famous mystery novelist, who draws inspiration for his stories from a real-life homicide detective, Kate Beckett, in Castle. The two clash on everything, which makes their investigations into already strange cases even more interesting. After working closely in the most dangerous situations, the unusual pair find sparks of a different kind flying between them.

Season 5 kicks off with Castle and Beckett having to face the aftermath of giving into their feelings for one another. They struggle to keep their relationship a secret and it’s made harder when they finally learn who is responsible for Beckett’s mother’s murder.

CRIMINAL MINDS 8
STARTS 9 JULY 20:30

Criminal Minds follows an elite team of FBI profilers who analyse the country’s most twisted criminals by anticipating their moves before they strike again.

Experienced agent David Rossi, Special Agents Aaron Hotchner, Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid make up the team along with Emily Prentiss, a former Interpol agent whose past has caught up with her.

In Season 8, the profilers are put on a case that involves an escaped killer known as “The Silencer.” The team also welcomes a new member in the form of Alex Blake, a linguistics expert.

MAJOR CRIMES 2
STARTS 9 JULY 21:30

After losing their chief, the detectives in the Los Angeles Police Department struggle to be a team under their new leadership, in Major Crimes. The division’s new Captain Sharon Raydor is put in charge, and she becomes determined to gain their trust and lead with a more team-oriented approach.
Season two opens with the division immediately diving into some challenging and fascinating cases, including the murder of a big-time film producer and a murder-suicide that isn’t what it seems.

THE CARRIE DIARIES
STARTS 10 JULY 19:30

The Carrie Diaries chronicle the life of a teenaged Carrie Bradshaw of Sex and the City fame. At 16 years old, Carrie struggles with the recent death of her mother. Her younger sister is acting out and her father isn’t quite sure how to raise his daughters alone.

Carrie’s closest friends, Mouse, Maggie and Walt keep her sane and the arrival of new guy, Sebastian, brings Carrie some excitement-even though her rival Donna LaDonna is vying for his attention.

Just when she feels she wants more, Carrie is introduced into Manhattan, and her life-long love affair with the glamorous city begins.

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS 3
STARTS 10 JULY 21:30

Pretty Little Liars follows a group of the prettiest girls in town- Aria, Spencer, Hanna and Emily, who have a dark secret: the truth of what happened to their leader and Queen Bee, Alison. But when Alison turns up dead, the girls start receiving strange messages from the mysterious “A”- who threatens to reveal everything they’ve covered up.

Season 3 kicks off five months after “A” is revealed to have been Mona - who is now locked up in a sanatorium. The girls think they’ve heard the last of her, until “A” sends them a chilling message, meaning that the threat is still out to get them.

COUGAR TOWN 4
STARTS 11 JULY 19:00

Jules Cobb and her family of friends keep life interesting and funny as they support each other through the best and the worst, in Cougar Town. Her neighbour and confidante Ellie and her husband Andy, her under-achieving ex-husband Bobby, Jules’ feisty protégé Laurie and attractive neighbour Grayson never keep their wine far and never act as mature as they should.

Season 4 sees Jules and Grayson adjusting steadily into married life, just as Travis decides to try his hand at being a “player”. As Ellie heads back to work, Bobby decides to try out the dating scene.

ONCE UPON A TIME 2
STARTS 11 JULY 19:30

Emma Swan’s life has been anything but a fairy tale and things take a magical turn when the son she abandoned 10 years ago, Henry, seeks her out, in Once Upon A Time.

Henry tells Emma that his sleepy town is really part of a curse cast by an Evil Queen and Emma is really the lost daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. She decides to trust in Henry and when she uncovers the truth, it’s much worse than either she or Henry could have imagined.

In Season 2, reality and myth merge as the curse lifts and the fairy tale characters begin awakening. But things aren’t quite right yet, and a new quest for power may just jeopardise the characters in the real world.

ARMY WIVES 7
STARTS 11 JULY 20:30

The struggles, dreams and friendships of a diverse group of women - and one man - are explored in Army Wives. Living with their families on an active Army post, Claudia, Denise, Roxy, Pamela and Roland try to be the pillar of support for their spouses, which come with its own set of challenges as the threat of war looms around them.

In Season 7, after the news of the troops’ redeployment to Afghanistan, the tribe face a devastating loss and have to rally together once more. Meanwhile, new arrivals to the Army post make themselves known.

MADMEN 6
STARTS 11 JULY 21:30

Madmen explores the ruthless and competitive world of advertising in the 1960s. Following the conflicted Don Draper, the biggest ad man in the business and his colleagues, true human nature can often be found beneath the guise of the era’s traditional family values.

Season 6 sees Don at the head of a new campaign, spearheading the new project. Betty takes in a house guest and Roger gets some unsettling news.

PARKS AND RECREATION 5
STARTS 12 JULY 19:00

Working in the Parks & Recreation department, Leslie Knope goes to great lengths to make her town of Pawnee more fun. With the help of her subordinate Tom, her best friend Ann and former lover Mark, Leslie uses her optimism to turn the town into an attraction.

In the Season 5 premiere, Leslie and Andy visit Ben and April in Washington DC, where Leslie is overwhelmed by the city. With Leslie absent, Ron throws a thank you barbeque for the entire staff.

TEEN WOLF 2
STARTS 12 JULY 19:30
Moves from Vuzu to M-Net Series Showcase

When his best friend persuades him to go into the woods one night, Scott McCall is attacked by a werewolf, in Teen Wolf. The bite gives him strange new abilities that also complicate his life. Making things even harder for Scott is his attraction to the new girl in town - who seems to be hiding a dark family secret.

Season 2 kicks off with Lydia missing in action. When the gang discovers her disappearing act from the hospital, the werewolves and the hunters go on a desperate search for her, and discover the scary truth of what she’s become.

GRIMM
STARTS 12 JULY 20:30

In Grimm, Detective Nick Burkhardt discovers that he's a descendent of an elite line of criminal profilers known as “Grimms”. Now charged with keeping balance between humanity and the mythological creatures of the world, Nick attempts to hide his new found calling from his fiancée Juliette and his partner, Hank Griffin.

As Nick becomes drawn into the world of mythological creatures and their rivalries, he struggles with his responsibilities as a detective and his new calling as a Grimm.

SUPERNATURAL 8
STARTS 12 JULY 21:30

Sam and Dean Winchester run the family business: battling all things Supernatural. After giving up their normal lives, the brothers save the world from evil time and time again, at the cost of their lives, their families, their sanity and sometimes, their humanity.

In the Season 8 premiere, Dean impossibly seems to escape from Purgatory, with Castiel nowhere to be found. His mysterious arrival back to the world of the living is complicated when his reunion with Sam doesn’t go as either brother expected.

1600 PENN
STARTS 14 JULY 17:00

In 1600 Penn, the Gilchrists are an average American family, with one exception; they live in the White House. As the First Family, they have a lot of responsibility but that’s made a little complicated when their quirks seem to outshine their good intentions.

After the President’s son arrives home from college - permanently - the Head of State quickly realises that his hardest job is being head of his own family.

LAST MAN STANDING 2
STARTS 14 JULY 17:30
Moves from M-Net to M-Net Series Showcase

Barely surviving in a household full of women, a man’s-man patriarch evaluates how far the modern woman has come and wonders what has become of all the men.

HOT IN CLEVELAND 4
STARTS 14 JULY 18:00
Moves from M-Net to M-Net Series Showcase

Three best friends from Los Angeles are on their way to Paris when their plane makes an emergency landing in Hot In Cleveland. After arriving in Cleveland, the women discover that things are done a little differently and they decide to stay and rent a house - adopting its feisty caretaker in the process.

In Season 4, an unhinged woman offers Melanie a great job and Elka gets the upper hand with her boyfriend. But the real focus is on the identity of the mysterious baby that entered the ladies’ lives unexpectedly.

SMASH 2
STARTS 14 JULY 19:30

When a hit-making Broadway duo of writers decide to create a musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe, in Smash, they never dreamed that two talents, the seasoned Ivy Lynn and newcomer Karen Cartwright, would be the ones who would steal the show. Both the cast and crew discover just how beautiful and heart-breaking the world of Broadway can be.

Season 2 sees the Bombshell team celebrating the success of the play’s run in Boston. But while Karen finds herself on the brink of fame, it may come at a cost to Ivy.

COVERT AFFAIRS 3
STARTS 14 JULY 20:30

On her first day of training at the CIA, Agent Annie Walker is placed into the field almost immediately, in Covert Affairs. Once she gets her first mission, she quickly learns that all her training will be on the job, and with the guidance of her tech-savvy analyst Auggie, Annie’s campaign within the secret levels of the CIA becomes more dangerous and more complex.

In Season 3, the team’s Independence Day celebrations are cut short when a car bomb kills one of their own, and Annie is placed at the centre of suspicion.

NIKITA 3
STARTS 14 JULY 21:30

A troubled woman is recruited by a secret U.S. program to become an assassin, in Nikita.

Years of training have made her skilled in taking out whatever trash the organisation wants out, but when she realised just how many innocent people are sacrificed in the process, Nikita went rogue and started a war of her own - against the very people who made her what she is.

In the Season 3 premiere: Ryan has taken charge of Division and together with Nikita they look for a way to bring in all Division’s rogue agents. But their first mission hits a snag when Michael is arrested.

VEEP
STARTS 14 JULY 22:30
Double episodes each week

Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars as the Vice President of the United States in Veep.

When former Senator Selina Meyer accepts a call to serve as Vice President of the United States, the job is nothing like she imagined. Washington is full of political games and Selina and her staff attempt to make their mark without getting caught up in the drama.

Though they try desperately to see their pet project - the Clean Jobs Commission - become a reality, a series of missteps see them doing damage control in Selina’s first official act as Vice President.

30 ROCK 7
STARTS 15 JULY 19:00

Head writer for a variety show, Liz Lemon is thrown for a loop when NBC gets a new Head in the form of the charismatic and suave Jack Donaghy, in 30 Rock.

Liz’s team undergoes multiple changes and soon she becomes the head writer for an off-the-wall skit show with quirky characters and an even quirkier production staff.

Season 7 sees Liz questioning some of Jack’s horrible programming for the network, as Jenna prepares to be the ultimate bridezilla for her upcoming wedding. Meanwhile, Kenneth’s living situation with Hazel forces him to turn to Tracey for advice.

PRIMEVAL
STARTS 15 JULY 19:30

Only a few people can explain why dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures start appearing on the streets of modern day cities, in Primeval: New World.

Visionary inventor Evan Cross and his team of experts track the predators and find a way to protect the world from these anomalies.

And while Evan’s past has prepared him for the worst, he relies on the team just as they rely on each other as they face off against some of the most dangerous creatures of the prehistoric age.

DEFIANCE
STARTS 15 JULY 20:30

In Defiance, the year 2046 sees an unrecognisable Earth with new rules after various alien races arrive on the planet and throw the world into chaos. A former marine and his adopted alien daughter decide to settle down in a small town, that’s seemingly unaffected by the conflict.

Once they arrive though, the pair quickly realise that things aren’t what they seem, as a series of events unfold and threaten the fragile peace that the town fought so hard for.

TRUE BLOOD 6
STARTS 15 JULY 21:30

After the invention of synthetic blood, vampires come out of the woodwork and become fellow citizens, in True Blood.

In a small town in the South, local waitress Sookie Stackhouse hides an ability of her own, and her life is further complicated by the relationship she has with the handsome and sexy vampire living down the road, as the humans and vampires wage war around her.

Things heat up in Season 6 when Sookie and the rest of the captives escape the Authority compound. Alcide finds himself becoming the new packmaster and Andy deals with the four new-born human-faerie hybrids.


90210 Season 5
STARTS 13 JULY 17:30

A group of wealthy kids living in the 90210 experience new loves, old flames, tested loyalties and shocking betrayals. As the gang explores the beginnings of adult life, they search for answers to the trials and tribulations, with only their friendships to lean on.

Season 5 kicks off with Dixon unconscious after a life-threatening accident. Annie and Ade try to be there for him, as an unaware Adrianna vows to get over him for good.

CHICAGO FIRE
STARTS 13 JULY 20:30

Chicago Fire is a drama series with an edge-of-your-seat view into the lives of everyday heroes committed to one of America’s noblest professions. 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.


NEW GIRL 2
Continues on 10 July at 19:00

GLEE 4
Continues on 10 July at 20:30

BUNHEADS 2
Continues on 14 July at 18:30

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For a rundown of the premiere line-up on M-Net Series Reality and Zone please see ...

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