The Merge Changes

Published Mar 17, 2017

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Season two of The Catch was scheduled in the Monday 8.30pm slot on 101 this week to replace Bull, which is on a break until the end of May. See more below.

Chicago Fire (101) will resume on March 21 at 7.30pm, after a break this week.

Mom (M-Net 101) returns with a new episode on Tuesday at 6pm, then will go on a break from March 21 and resume as per the US schedule.

Season eight of NCIS Los Angeles (101) begins on Thursday, March 23 at 7.30pm.

Miss SA will air on Sunday, March 26 at 5pm, pre-empting The Voice SA (101).

The Ellen DeGeneres Show (M-Net 101) will go on a break from Tuesday, March 28 at 5pm and resume on Tuesday, April 4.

The second season of Blindspot (101) will start on March 30 at 9.30pm.

Midnight Sun (Edge) will end with double episodes on March 25 at 9pm and 10pm.

Season one of The Magicians (Edge) will have double episodes on Mondays at 8pm and 9pm until it ends on March 27.

Quarry (Edge) will end on March 28 with two episodes from 9pm.

Aftermath (Edge) continues with two episodes on Wednesdays at 9pm and 10pm, and ends on March 29 with three episodes from 9pm.

The Borgias (Edge) has back-to-back episodes on Thursdays at 10pm until March 23. On March 30 there will be three episodes from 10pm to conclude season three.

Hyde & Seek (Edge) ends on March 30 with two episodes at 6pm, then The Art Of More will also end its season with double episodes from 8pm.

OZ, the first one-hour dramatic series from HBO, has double episodes on Mondays from 10pm (Edge) and triple episodes on Fridays from 10.15pm and ends on March 31 (season four).

Wrecked, a parody of the 2004 series Lost, premieres on Edge tonight at 6.50pm with triple episodes. Same for next Friday, then on March 31 there will be four episodes.

The Detour began on Edge last Friday at 8pm and has double episodes tonight. On the next two Fridays there will be triple episodes and it ends on March 31. This show is hilarious, completely off the wall and totally irreverent.

These are M-Net Edge Express From The US mid-season series moving to M-Net 101. They will no longer be airing in the wee hours but only in prime time and it is suggested you reset your PVR recordings. While some of them are available on Catch Up, I’d recommend recording anyway.

Major Crimes season five is on a break and due to return to 101 on April 1 at 6.30pm.

Grimm’s 12th episode is on Edge on March 27 at 7pm; episode 13 onwards will be on 101 from April 3 at 10.30pm.

Homeland’s 10th episode airs on Edge on March 28 at 8pm, then continues on 101 from Tuesday, April 4 at 10.30pm.

Episode six of Crashing (also surprisingly funny; as the critics said, it took a while to warm up) is on Edge on March 31 at 9.40pm, and moves to 101 from April 7 art 11pm.

Girls will have its last episode on Edge on March 31 at 9pm and then continue on 101 on Fridays at 10.30pm from April 7.

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver bids Edge farewell on March 25 at 11pm and will find its new home on 101 on Sundays after the blockbuster movie, from April 9. Since the show is in a similar vein to The Daily Show (on Comedy Central), it was interesting to see Trevor Noah interview Oliver a little while back.

Episode nine of Elementary will be the last to be seen on Edge on March 29 at 7pm. Its new timeslot on 101 will be at 6.30pm but only from May 27.

Last but not least, Lucifer season two is on a production break, with no return date confirmed yet, so it’s avoiding all these schedule changes but will obviously come back on 101.

IN THE WEEK

The Catch (M-Net 101, Monday at 8.30pm): Starring Mireille Enos (Big Love, The Killing - for which she was nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe) and Peter Krause (Six Feet Under, Parenthood), the second season is fairly fresh from the US, having premiered there on March 9. To back up a bit, The Catch - for which Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, The Fixer) is a producer - follows Alice Vaughan (Enos), who runs a private investigation firm in Los Angeles. After becoming the victim of fraud by her fiancé, she is determined to find him - between working on other cases - before it ruins her career. The fiancé, Benjamin Jones (Krause), is revealed to be a master con artist working for a high-stakes international crime operation along with Margot Bishop (Sonya Walger), who run elaborate long cons, including that of Alice. Even though Alice discovers all this - because, she is, after all, a hotshot investigator - they continue their love affair while playing both sides of the law.

At the end of season one, Benjamin performed the ultimate sacrifice, turning himself in to the FBI and taking the rap to protect Alice. This gives him plenty of time to reflect on his shady past, while the team at Anderson Vaughan Investigations try to come to terms with getting in bed with the bad guys.

Empire (Fox Africa, Thursday at 9pm): After a really long break season three returns. While it’s been on holiday, it was announced the series has been renewed for a fourth season, which is music to my ears. Even more so because when the series premiered, it was to rave reviews and the second season was soon ordered. Then it all hung in the balance for a while as it was under threat of being cancelled. Luckily the studio execs made the right decision and here we are.

If you’ve been snoozing, the show is set in the world of hip hop music and its massive industry which extends into all realms of entertainment and merchandise. While that is the backdrop, it’s a family drama of almost soapy proportions. Terrence Howard is patriarch Lucious Lyon, and Taraji P Henson plays his ex-wife Cookie, both of whom visited South Africa on a promotional tour last year.

They have three sons, all of whom are part of the family business and at some point - I haven’t keep an accurate record of this so I stand to be corrected - almost all of them have attempted (or at least thought about) killing at least one of their family members.

Hip hop fans can revel in the pleasure of seeing several stars, as well as non-musical celebs, playing either themselves or characters in this brilliantly addictive series. So far this season, the list includes Demi Moore, Birdman, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, and Eva Longoria.

Previous A-listers included Chris Rock, Xzibit, Ludacriss, Rosie O’Donnell, Nicole Richie (okay, maybe she’s more C-list these days, but still), Timbaland (who, along with his team, composes the series’ songs based on material supplied by the show’s writing team for each episode), Snoop Dogg, Gladys Knight, Jennifer Hudson, and Courtney Love.

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