Showcase midseason schedule - XIII Season 2 January 4th

SHOWCASE LAYS DOWN THE LAW THIS WINTER Showcase Winter

Lost Girl, Rizzoli & Isles, Justified and XIII return with new seasons

Military drama Strike Back makes its Showcase debut

Beauty and the Beast and Covert Affairs return with new episodes
TORONTO, November 28, 2012 – This winter, Showcase is the top destination for original dramas and critically acclaimed imports featuring international spies, special agents and private detectives. Showcase’s top-performing original drama, Lost Girl, returns to the schedule with the season’s most anticipated premiere. New to the channel is the high-octane action series Strike Back, about the unlikely alliance between two very different special agents. Rounded out by returning hits Rizzoli & Isles, Justified and XIII, the winter schedule launches January 2.

Hailed as “an immediately addictive brew of action, suspense and wry humour” by TV Guide, Justified returns to the Showcase schedule. The sophomore season picks up immediately following the epic gun battle that capped off season one. After breaking the Crowder family’s criminal grip on Harlan County, U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens (Timothy Olyphant; Hitman) must now cope with the criminal organizations moving in to fill the void. Clearing his name as a lawman by continuing to crack cases closely tied to his past, Raylan once again finds himself entangled with the volatile Boyd Crowder (Walton Goggins; The Shield). Justified, Season 2 airs Wednesdays beginning January 2 at 10 p.m. ET.

After the jaw-dropping XIII season one finale that saw XIII (Stuart Townsend; The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) shot and betrayed by Jones (Aisha Tyler; 24), XIII goes off the grid to protect himself. In season two, XIII finds himself manipulated, framed and endangered as he is lured into an international conspiracy that threatens to unleash a deadly new weapon. While unravelling this global plot of world destruction, XIII confronts the truth about his identity and the ambiguous past that comes back to haunt him. XIII, Season 2 airs Fridays beginning January 4 at 9 p.m. ET.

The highly anticipated return of Lost Girl promises more twists and turns as Bo (Anna Silk; Being Erica) makes a romantic choice but finds her road to commitment riddled with obstacles. Unexpected jeopardy stalks Bo and those she cares about, and though she battles many foes, her greatest enemy will prove to be the one that resides within her. Season 3 welcomes new cast member Rachel Skarsten and guest star Linda Hamilton. Lost Girl, Season 3 premieres Sunday, January 6 at 9p.m. ET. Following the quirky friendship between Jane (Angie Harmon; Law & Order), the tough-as-nails Boston detective, and the fashionable medical examiner Maura (Sasha Alexander; NCIS), the second season of Rizzoli & Isles finds the duo faced with the toughest cases in crime and love. Fresh off the violent precinct siege that left Jane wounded in the finale, this season sees her struggling to overcome emotional scars, meanwhile Maura revisits a complicated relationship from her past. Season 2 guest stars include Ernie Hudson (Oz, Ghostbusters), Matthew Del Negro (United States of Tara, Parenthood) and Fox News pundit, Bill O’Reilly. Rizzoli & Isles, Season 2 airsSundays beginning January 6 at 10 p.m. ET. Called a “surprisingly stylish and addictive new counterterrorism series” by Washington Post, Strike Back follows a charismatic former U.S. Special Forces operative who partners with a stealth British military unit known as Section 20 when a resourceful international terrorist group plots an attack. The unlikely pairing ofelite British spy Michael Stonebridge (Philip Winchester; Fringe) and American renegade Damian Scott (Sullivan Stapleton;Animal Kingdom) fuels the breakneck action and heart-pounding suspense as the pair battle terrorism around the globe. Strike Back, Season 1 airs Thursdays beginning February 14 at 10 p.m. ET.

Starring Golden Globe®-nominated actor Piper Perabo (Looper) as CIA operative Annie Walker, Covert Affairs returns with new episodes airing Thursdays beginning January 3 at 10 p.m. ET. The revamped fairytale Beauty and the Beast, starring Canadian Kristin Kreuk (Smallville), returns from hiatus with new episodes airing Thursdays beginning January 24 at 9 p.m. ET.