(“Game
of Thrones” Cast)
MultiChoice and M-Net lock down superb
schedule for DStv Premium and Compact Plus pop-up channel
As South Africans are starting a crucial
and critical 21 home-bound days to curb the spread of Covid-19, there’s no need
for international series fanatics to fear long nights of boredom.
MultiChoice and M-Net have conjured up a
must-watch pop-up channel with only the best of the best content from the HBO
stable. M-Net Binge – The Home of HBO, channel 114 on DStv Premium and Compact
Plus, showcases full seasons of edgy, award-winning series as well as a
selection of riveting documentaries and HBO Original films.
M-Net Binge – The Home of HBO kicks off on
Friday March 27 at 19h00. Thereafter it will be available seven days a week,
between 18h00 and 06h00, Mondays to Sundays. Why 12 hours only, series aficionados
may ask? Only because of the racy nature of the channel and the age-restricted
material, which is not suitable for daytime viewing.
The weekday schedule for M-Net Binge – Home
of HBO has been carefully curated to create appointment viewing. You will find
the same series in the same time slot, on the hour, Mondays to Fridays. From
series like The Newsroom, which
earned leading man Jeff Daniels several TV gongs, to executive producers Tom
Hanks and Steven Spielberg’s epic war drama Band
of Brothers; and the biggest series of modern times, Game of Thrones. Not to forget recent masterpiece The Night Of and the cult series Six Feet Under. When insomnia hits in
the middle of the night, there’s also Banshee,
The Leftovers and Girls.
On Saturdays, up until 21h00, the line-up
is packed with thought-provoking documentaries. At 21h00 there will be another
episode of Game of Thrones, which is
screened in the same slot during the week. Sunday’s schedule belongs to series
that have been exclusive to the streaming service Showmax to date: His Dark Materials and Succession. That’s followed by a
superstack (6 episodes) of classic Sex
& The City, starting at 22h00. As a special treat for night owls, the
next item on air is the HBO film at 01h00. The unmissable documentary picked
for Saturday March 27 is Ice on Fire.
Narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, it investigates solutions to try and reverse the
effects of climate change while time is ticking. The film on Sunday is Deadwood, the movie HBO created to conclude the hit series form the
1990s.
M-Net Binge – The Home of HBO will also be
available on DStv Catch up and on the streaming service DStv Now. Fans can
follow all the breaking news around the pop-up channel on the M-Net Website,
and join the conversation with #mnetbinge on Twitter (@MNet), Instagram
(@mnettv) and Facebook (@MNet).
A quick snapshot and summaries of the shows
on M-Net Binge – The Home of HBO:
(Right: Jeff
Daniels in “The Newsroom”)
The
Newsroom
Mondays to Fridays at 19h00. Repeats next
day at 18h00.
From the imagination of Aaron Sorkin,
creator of The West Wing, comes
another riveting political drama series, set in the newsroom of the fictional
Atlantis Cable News television channel. The
Newsroom won a Critics' Choice Television Award for Most Exciting New
Series, along with Golden Globe nominations and a string of other accolades.
These include a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Jeff
Daniels) and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series (Jane Fonda).
Band
of Brothers
Mondays to Fridays at 20h00.
Hollywood legends Steven Spielberg and Tom
Hanks, who collaborated on one of the greatest war movies of all time, Saving Private Ryan, teamed up again and
revisited World War II as executive producers on a project that won high praise
from viewers, and Emmy and Golden Globe awards for Best Miniseries. Based on a
non-fiction bestselling book by historian Stephen E Ambrose, it follows the
history of a parachute battalion from jump training in the United States
through its participation in major actions in Europe.
Game
of Thrones
Mondays to Saturdays at 21h00 and 22h00
(two episodes).
The most talked about television series of
the new millennium, bar none, took the fantasy genre to a new level. Game of Thrones won a record 58 Emmy
Awards, and has a global fan base that long ago surpassed the one billion mark
– and keeps growing. If you’ve just returned from another planet and missed it
first time around, you’ve got some catching up to do. There are 72 episodes,
all told. Set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, it has several
plot arcs and a huge ensemble cast.
NB: The series contains scenes of nudity
and violence.
Six
Feet Under
Mondays to Fridays at 23h00
A funeral parlour may not sound like the
ideal setting for a long-running drama series, but Six Feet Under was a smashing success, named by Time Magazine, The
Guardian and Empire as one of the best television series of all time. Nine Emmy
Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a
Peabody Award back up those assessments. The story revolves around the trials
and tribulations of the Fisher clan, owners of Fisher & Sons Funeral Home.
Besides the usual themes of interpersonal relationships, love and loss, it
fearlessly tackles the most important philosophical question of our time: the
meaning of life.
(Left: John
Terturro in “The Night Of”)
The
Night Of
Saturdays at 23h00
Following a wild night of sex and drugs,
Nasir “Naz” Kahn, a Pakistani-American student, wakes up to find that the woman
he’d spent the night with has been stabbed to death. He has no recollection of
the events of the night. This is the premise of a multiple award-winning crime
miniseries starring John Terturro as John Stone, the lawyer who represents the
murder suspect. It won four Primetime Emmy Awards and a Directors’ Guild of
America Award among a slew of accolades. It has a score of 90 on Metacritic,
based on 40 reviews, and 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating universal acclaim.
His
Dark Materials
Sundays at 19h00.
Strangeness and wonder mark this fantasy
drama based on the cult novel series of the same name by Philip Pullman. The
action takes place in a multi-world reality, switching from one to the other in
an absorbing, unusual narrative. In an alternate world, all humans have animal
companions called daemons. As it turns out, they are manifestations of the
human soul. The main character is a girl named Lyra, an orphan who discovers a
dangerous secret. And then her path crosses with a boy named Will. The series combines
live action and animation and won an Annie, America’s top animation award.
(Right: Brian
Cox in “Succession”)
Succession
Sundays at 20h00 and 21h00 (two episodes)
An American satirical comedy-drama
television series that won the British Academy Television Award for Best
International Programme and the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series –
Drama. In addition to that, Brian Cox, one of the lead actors, won the Golden
Globe for Best Actor – Television Series Drama. A dysfunctional family battles
for control of a global media and hospitality conglomerate – and the
patriarch’s health is in steep decline. Who will inherit the throne?
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