fox8's blog

Tuesday June 30 at 8.30pm

Joss Whedon, creator of the groundbreaking cult favourites, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Firefly, returns to television and reunites with fellow Buffy alumna, Eliza Dushku, for a thrilling new drama, Dollhouse.

Echo (Dushku) is an “Active,” a member of a highly illegal and underground group of individuals who have had their personalities wiped clean so they can be imprinted with any number of new personas. Hired by the wealthy, powerful and connected, the Actives don’t just perform their hired roles, they wholly become – with mind, personality and physiology – whomever the client wants or needs them to be. Whether imprinted to be a lover, an assassin, a corporate negotiator or a best friend, the Actives know no other life than the specific engagements they are in at that time. Confined between missions to a secret facility known as the “Dollhouse“, Echo and the other Actives including Sierra (Dichen Lachman), are assigned engagements by Adelle Dewitt (Olivia Williams), one of the Dollhouse leaders. After each scenario, Echo, always under the watchful eye of her handler, Boyd Langton (Harry Lennix), returns to the mysterious Dollhouse where her thoughts, feelings, experiences and knowledge are erased by Topher Brink (Fran Kranz), the Dollhouse’s genius programmer.

As the series progresses, FBI Agent Paul Ballard (Tahmoh Penikett) pieces together clues with the help of Russian informant, Lubov (Enver Gjokaj), that lead him closer to the Dollhouse. Echo stops forgetting as her memories begin to return, and she slowly pieces together her mysterious past.

Tuesday June 30 at 7.30pm

FOXTEL’s highest rating series, Australia’s Next Top Model, will explode back onto our screens for a fifth season with 13 fresh, highly competitive wannabe models and a new supermodel host at the helm.

Hosted for the first time by modelling sensation Sarah Murdoch (who is also acting as Co-Executive Producer), Australia’s Next Top Model is FOX8’s locally produced, ASTRA Award-winning reality series that follows a group of young women as they try to prove they have what it takes to make it in the high-stress, high-stakes world of modelling. At the end of each week, Sarah leads the panel of judges including leading fashion designer Alex Perry and sharp-tongued fashion identity Charlotte Dawson as they assess task performance and potential, and make the difficult decision as to who to eliminate. Australia’s Next Top Model will culminate in a massive, live finale later this year with the winner taking home a prize package including representation for 12 months by premiere model agency Priscilla’s; an all expenses paid trip to New York courtesy of Maybelline New York; a contract as the face of Maybelline New York’s new colour collection; $20,000 cash thanks to U by Kotex; and an eight-page fashion spread in Harpers Bazaar.

The suspense builds ahead of the LIVE telecast of the series’ final episode on July 7.

Monday June 29 9.00pm

The new season of this hit boxing reality series from Mark Burnett features 16 Cruiserweights from around the world who will face each other in a 12-episode competition.

With former boxer and television star Tony Danza serving as host and mentor, and veteran Tommy Brooks and John Bray serving as trainers, these fighters will go through the most intense training of their lives and battle in the most challenging fights of their careers. In the end, the two left standing will get into the ring to fight for the coveted title of Contender Champion.

Friday June 26 at 10.00pm

Ride shotgun with the pilots of Hawaii’s Windward Aviation as they perform death-defying rescues over some of the world’s wildest and most beautiful terrain.

Friday June 26 at 9.30pm

Our cameras follow the men and women of ski patrol who risk their lives in the mountains, fighting avalanches,

Thursday June 25 at 7.30pm

Set in Seattle, the Trager family take in Kyle, a mysterious teen whom they eventually learn has supernatural powers and psychic abilities, the result of a secret human cloning experiment conducted years earlier. The family helps teach Kyle human behaviours such as anger, joy and love, and guards him against forces who seek to use Kyle for their own evil purposes. As the series progresses Kyle looks deeper into his past and comes to realise parts of the truth behind his existence.

Wednesday June 24 at 10.20pm

Plumbers by day ghost hunters by night. Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson are two plumbers who are also the co- founders of The Atlantic Paranormal Society – a research team which investigates hauntings and other strange occurrences.

Wednesday June 24 at 9.30pm

America’s Toughest Jobs is a new extreme competition series that will test 13 men and women who venture out of their safe and comfortable careers and are injected into some of the most challenging, dangerous and demanding jobs on earth. From logging to oil drilling, and driving icy roads to extreme fishing – each job requires guts and stamina, and the competitors will have to live up to the same standards as the pros. At the end of each episode, their new boss and co-workers will determine success or failure, and those who don’t make the grade will be sent home. Upping the stakes, the annual salary of each job will be thrown into a pot until the finale – where one rookie will take home the well-earned cash.

Wednesday June 24 at 8.30pm

A one hour action-comedy series about Chuck Bartowski (Zachary Levi) – a computer geek who is catapulted into a new career as the government’s most vital secret agent.When Chuck opens an e-mail subliminally encoded with government secrets, he unwittingly downloads an entire server of sensitive data into his brain. Now, the fate of the world lies in the unlikely hands of a guy who works at a Buy More Electronics store. Instead of fighting computer viruses, he must now confront assassins and international terrorists.

With the government’s most precious secrets in Chuck’s head, Major John Casey (Adam Baldwin) of the National Security Agency resumes his responsibility of protecting Chuck. Casey’s partner is the CIA’s top agent – and Chuck’s dream girl – Sarah Walker (Yvonne Strahovski). They try to keep him safe by trading in his pocket protector for a bulletproof vest. Also starring are Joshua Gomez as Morgan Grimes, Chuck’s best buddy; Sarah Lancaster as Chuck’s ever-supportive sister Ellie; and Ryan McPartlin as “Captain Awesome,” Ellie’s fiancé. Chuck’s Buy More team consists of Big Mike (Mark Christopher Lawrence) and the Nerd Herd, which includes Lester (Vik Sahay), Jeff (Scott Krinsky) and Anna (Julia Ling).

Wednesday June 24 at 7.30pm

A chosen group of the nation’s most talented young footballers will be given an opportunity of a lifetime, relocating to a mansion, in which they will live together, to start a gruelling tryout schedule designed to test all skills needed to be a top class footballer. Cameras will follow the journey of the boys as they are culled through an intense elimination process before the winner is anointed the “Football Superstar” and will become part of an elite football club.