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The Flash amongst new US titles coming to Foxtel

The Flash, Jane the Virgin, The Knick, Cristela, and more coming across 2014 / 2015.

2014-09-30_1053Foxtel has confirmed several new US titles coming in 2014 / 2015.

Foxtel has signed with Warner Bros / Nine Network to acquire The Flash and with CBS Studios to license Jane the Virgin. Both will launch in coming weeks.

The group of titles also includes several key dramas which have been held-off by Foxtel including The Leftovers and The Knick.

One of the most anticipated new programs on offer is the Warner Bros. superhero saga and Arrow spinoff, The Flash. The series stars Grant Gustin (Glee) as Barry Allen, a scientist who is exposed to radiation from a particle accelerator. Barry gains the ability to move at super-speed and dedicates his life to solving mysteries, fighting criminals… and determining who killed his mother.

From CBS Studios, everyone is talking about the hilarious new comedy-drama Jane the Virgin. The series stars newcomer Gina Rodriguez as Jane, a conscientious, ambitious twenty-something virgin whose meticulous life plans are turned upside down when she is accidentally artificially inseminated during a routine check-up at the doctors.

Both series will premiere on Foxtel’s FOX8 HD channel in December and be fast-tracked over summer.

In other deals firmed by Foxtel, it has acquired the apocalyptic drama The Messengers, from CBS, also to be shown on FOX8. The series follows a group of seemingly unconnected strangers who die from the energy pulse of a mysterious object that crashes to Earth, but are awakened to learn that they are being held responsible for preventing the impending apocalypse.

Also from CBS is the British-American horror series Penny Dreadful which will be broadcast on Foxtel’s showcase channel on Thursday November 6 at 7.30pm. The series weaves together some of literature’s most terrifying characters in the darkest corners of Victorian London, including Dr. Frankenstein, Dorian Gray, and iconic figures from the novel Dracula,

To launch on Foxtel’s SoHo channel on Wednesday November 5 at 8.30pm is the 20th Century Fox drama series Rush. Tom Ellis stars as Dr William Rush who is far from your average on-call doctor. He’s not attached to any hospital, and is highly discreet as long as the client can pay his cash-only premium. And this doctor can party with the best of them. He has no desire to change his life or how he lives it, until an old flame and his conscience begin to stir things up.

Also from 20th Century Fox are two comedies that will air on FOX8 in early 2015 – FRESH OFF THE BOAT and CRISTELA.

Based loosely on the life of chef and food personality Eddie Huang, FRESH OFF THE BOAT is a comedy about pursuing the American Dream. It’s the ‘90s and 12-year-old, hip-hop loving Eddie (Hudson Yang) has just moved to suburban Orlando from DC’s Chinatown with his parents.

Crisla is a sitcom from the producers of the Tim Allen comedy Last Man Standing and has been created by and stars Cristela Alonzo. After six years of law school, Cristela is finally on the brink of landing her first big (unpaid) internship at a prestigious law firm. The only problem is that her pursuit of success is more ambitious than her traditional Mexican-American family thinks is appropriate.

As part of Foxtel’s existing output deal with HBO come the two dramas The Leftovers and Olive Kitteridge, which will both be broadcast on showcase.

Premiering on Tuesday October 14 at 8.30pm, The Leftovers is based on the novel by Tom Perrotta about mysterious disappearances of people from all over the world and the consequences for those left behind.

Olive Kitteridge is based on Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, and features an all-star cast including Frances McDormand, Peter Jenkins and Bill Murray. The four-part mini-series (slated for early 2015) tells the poignantly sweet, acerbically funny and devastatingly tragic story of a seemingly placid New England town wrought with illicit affairs, crime and tragedy.

From Cinemax comes the Steven Soderbergh directed drama The Knick. Airing on showcase in December, The Knick is set in downtown New York in 1900 and centers on the Knickerbocker Hospital and the groundbreaking surgeons, nurses and staff who work there.

And from AMC Networks Foxtel has secured The Divide (premiering Thu Nov 11 at 8.30pm on SoHo), a drama following an impassioned caseworker, Christine Rosa (Marin Ireland) as she struggles to stop the impending execution of a death row inmate, whom she believes was wrongly convicted of a young family’s heinous murder 11 years earlier.

2014/2015:
The Flash (Warner Bros / Nine Network)
Jane the Virgin (CBS Studios)
The Messengers (CBS Studios)
Penny Dreadful (CBS Studios)
Fresh off the Boat (20th Century Fox)
Cristela (20th Century Fox)
Rush (20th Century Fox)
The Leftovers (HBO)
Olive Kitteredge (HBO)
The Knick (Cinemax)
The Divide (AMC Networks)

11 Responses

  1. Will definitely be watching Jane the Virgin, Fresh off the Boat, and Cristela. Looks like FOX8 realise that these shows make perfect replacements for series they are already airing which will soon be going on hiatus (in case of Jane the Virgin I’d say Switched At Birth & Glee, whereas the two comedies pair well with the likes of Modern Family, Last Man Standing, and Baby Daddy). Will also give Rush a go but don’t know if I’ll stick with it – looks more Ray Donovan than Royal Pains.

  2. @cnrmlj – Fox8 is showing Season 3 of Chicago Fire, they’re just delaying it until November 2 – effectively that means they’re taking the December/January break now and will be able to run it uninterrupted until late January/early February, and possibly longer if NBC reverts to 24 episodes again now that there won’t be a forced Olympic hiatus.

  3. The Flash going straight to pay tv, marks the first time in Aus tv’s long history that a live action series of a major DC hero did not premier on FTA. From 50s Superman, to 60s Batman, 70s Wonder Woman, Lois & Clark, Smallville & Arrow. Sad day,was so looking forward to The Flash.

  4. Rush is a good turn your brain off and enjoy show.
    The Knick is fantastic.As is The Leftovers. Two shows that are so different from the usual dreck that is served up.

  5. It’s the same with chicago Fire and chicago PD. Last season an episode started on Fire and finished on PD. Foxtel had Fire but no one had PD so it goes unresolved if you wait. I think I read there will be cross over to another Wolf show this year. I noticed Foxtel arent showing Fire this year so I guess that solves one problem. But Hulu doesn’t let is down.

  6. Indeed The Flash and Arrow will have many crossovers. There’s an appearance by Arrow in the first Flash episode, a proper crossover episode with the two title characters that starts on Flash and finishes on Arrow, another episode where Arrow character Felicity will be starring in The Flash and numerous bad guys will be appearing between the two shows. I also imagine there will be many references between the two shows. What a mess for local fans who still bother with Nine.

  7. Jane The Virgin is another adaption of a telenovela, from Venezuela this time. Reviews have been positive.

    The likely would have fast tracked How To Get Away With Murder. So Seven must still be deciding what to do with it.

  8. A couple of good shows coming up. Looking forward to the leftovers and also the flash. Glad it wont be on 9 or GO or whatever channel they send shows to after the first 2 episodes. Too bad they couldn’t get Gotham in the warner deal. Ep 2 in the US today and still coming soon on 9. Maybe 9 could get all their shows, stick them in an unrenovated building and play them 7 nights a week and call it something like ‘the big block: treat viewers with respect’!

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