The highlight of Foxtel's 2013 season launch was the announcement that hit US series Mad Men would be "expressed" to the showcase channel to screen directly after airing in the US.
The sixth season of the advertising agency period drama will begin screening 4.45pm Monday 8 April with its primetime debut scheduled 9.45pm the same night.
Expressing hit US cable shows has proved a success for Foxtel, who are currently screening HBO double Enlightended and Girls in a late Monday afternoon slot that hits here the same time as illegally torrented versions of the shows. So, a swag of new and popular titles were announced to be expressed alongside Mad Men:
Game Of Thrones, True Blood, Dexter, Boardwalk Empire, Sons Of Anarchy, Veep, Eastbound And Down, Treme and The Newsroom (showcase); Falling Skies, Grimm, Vampire Diaries (FOX8); Da Vinci's Demons, Transporter: The Series (FX); and The Colbert Report, The Daily Show and TOSH.0 on The Comedy Channel.
Foxtel also unveiled plans for a new local drama Devil's Playground, a sequel to the controversial 1976 film about Catholic priests (yes, you know what we mean) and feauturing the film's original star Simon Burke. Wentworth, the remake of '80s hit soap Prisoner, has been given given a start date in April on SoHo and will star Danielle Cormack, Catherine McClements and Kris McQuade.
Other announcements included: Fox Sports 1, 2 and 3 now to be avaialable on catch-up app Foxtel Go; Matt Moran will host From Paddock To Plate on The LifeStyle Channel in the second-half of the year; MasterChef contestant Marion Garsby's Marion's Thailand will air in June on LifeStyle Food; the local version of American Pickers (Aussie Pickers) will premiere on A&E in May and Didier Cohen will join Australia's Next Top Model as a judge.
