Coming up on
M-Net this April, 2008:
NEW SERIES:
It's Van der Walt's FaultPremiere date: Wednesday, 9 April at 19h00
Directed by stage and television veteran Bobby Heaney and scripted by Alan Committie and Tom Eaton, Van der Walt’s Fault is a six-part comic look at South African history through the eyes of part-time security guard and sometimes-historian Johan van der Walt.
Johan - who made his television debut on M-Net’s Laugh Out Loud - delves into his family history and ancestry to reveal that a person by the name of Van der Walt was responsible for many iconic moments in our South African history.
Each week, viewers will witness how a landmark historical event turned out to be Van der Walt’s fault. Who convinced the Dutch not to go back to Holland in the 1650’s? Who instigated The Great Trek; caused the Gold Rush; created Windhoek during World War 1; accidentally created separate development in the 1950’s; and helped release Madiba? All Van der Walt's Fault.
Alan Committie - who recently won a Fleur du Cap award, a Naledi award and SAFTA award - plays Johan Van der Walt. The supporting cast includes Tobie Cronjé, Sello Sebotsane and David Dennis. Each week celebrities make cameo appearances, playing historical characters.
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Saving GracePremiere date: Tuesday, 15 April 2008 at 21h30
Oscar winner Holly Hunter plays Grace Hanadarko, an Oklahoma City police detective who has spiralled along a path of self-destruction. She is having an affair with her married partner, drinks too much and too often, never follows orders, and has a penchant for flying off the handle.
One morning while driving drunk, she hits a pedestrian, killing him. Help arrives in the form of a tobacco-chewing angel named Earl and he promises to erase the event on one condition: she must redeem herself in the eyes of God.
The people who impact on Grace’s life include Ham Dewey (Kenny Johnson) as Grace’s partner; detective Bobby Stillwater (Gregory Cruz); detective Butch Ada (Bailey Chase); Leon Cooley (Bokeem Woodbine), a death row inmate; and Rhetta Rodriguez (Laura San Giacomo) the criminalist who, despite having strong religious beliefs, is the only one in Grace’s life who does not judge her.
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CalifornicationPremiere date: Tuesday, 15 April at 22h30
Californication marks David Duchovny’s return to the small screen, but in a role that’s the complete opposite of The X Files' Mulder.
Duchovny plays troubled novelist Hank Moody, who struggles to help raise his 13-year-old daughter, while still carrying a torch for his ex-girlfriend Karen (Natascha McElhone), all while trying to re-launch his writing career.
Hank’s obsession with honesty and his self-destructive behavior – drinks, drugs and relationships – are simultaneously destroying and enriching his career. He’s holding it together while falling apart – and he doesn’t mind it one bit.
David Duchovny’s interpretation of Hank Moody won him the 2008 Golden Globe Award in the category Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy or Musical.
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Innocent TimesPremiere date: Wednesday, 23 April 2008 at 20h00
Innocent Times is a new South African mini-series set in the past and the present.
When Genevieve Scott-Thomas is let out of prison after 15 years, her son Zac is killed when he falls off a balcony. Most think it is suicide, but Gene knows differently. To her it is a sure sign that her past is catching up with her. She decides to team up with award-winning journalist Jeff Levine and takes him on a journey into her dark past.
As she reflects on her life, we flash back to a landscape of the mind, a strange world where a murder spree took place.
The series cast includes Nina Milner (who made her debut in M-Net’s Ella Blue) as the young Gene, Justin Strydom (of Snitch fame), Quentin Krog as Zac Snr, Juliana Venter as the older Gene, Az Abrahams in the role of the journalist, and new-comer Matthew Lotter as Gene’s son Zac Jr.
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ClipzPremiere date: Tuesday, 29 April 2008 at 19h00
This new M-Net Original Production is a 24 minute collection of the best clips and videos doing the rounds on e-mail and the worldwide web from week to week. In other words, you’ll see all those funnies that had people talking, laughing or hitting the “forward” button.
Presented by Darren “Whackhead” Simpson, from Laugh Out Loud fame, the show includes a top ten list, a focus on classic on-line stars that made the internet famous and the mania of bizarre foreign clips and videos.
RETURNING SERIES:
Two And A Half Men 5Premiere date: Thursday, 3 April at 19h00
Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer return for a fifth season of men, women, sex, dating, divorce, mothers, single parenthood, sibling relations, surrogate families, money and, most importantly, love.
Two and a half men is about the lives of two brothers, a son/nephew and the many women who surround them all. Charlie Harper is a well-to-do bachelor with a house at the beach, a Mercedes in the garage and an easy way with women.
His casual Malibu lifestyle is interrupted when his tightly wound brother, Alan, and Alan's son, Jake, come to stay with him. Despite the complexities of their lives and their own strained relationship, Charlie and Alan have one thing in common: they both love Jake and want what's best for him. As a result, they manage to create a little family unit that promises to make each one of them a better man.
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Smallville 7Premiere date: Friday, 4 April at 19h30
The seventh season of Smallville introduces guest stars from Superman history, including Dean Cain and Helen Slater, plus storylines of Krypton and the El family, as Clark discovers more about his home planet, who his parents were, what his future holds and why he was sent to Earth. But the biggest trial for Clark may come in the form of his 19-year-old Kryptonian cousin, Kara.
Kara is fascinated with Earth's culture and has difficulty remembering to hide her powers from the world. Her youthful abandon lands her in many precarious situations and puts her on Lex's radar.
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Deal Or No Deal 2Premiere date: Saturday, 26 April at 19h00
Hosted once more by Ed Jordan, the gameshow Deal Or No Deal makes it's comeback for a second season in a new Saturday evening timeslot.
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