MUMBAI: After a quiet period, Zee English seems to be all geared for some summer fun. Last month saw the channel launching three new shows and May will see another two new shows making their debuts.

Mad TV (daily) and Witchblade (weekly) are both set to premier on 24 May 2004 on the Zee Group's English entertainment channel.

Starting Monday 24 May at 8 pm, Witchblade is based on the best-selling comic book of the same name. With the launch of this weekly, Zee English, thus far concentrating on action, family drama and sitcoms, will have its very own supernatural thriller. Something that has been lacking in its programming line up.

The one-hour weekly drama series stars Yancy Butler (Drop Zone, Hard Target) as the fierce and sexy Sara Pezzini. Produced by Top Cow productions and Halsted Pictures, in association with Warner Bros Television, the show's executive producer credits include Ralph Hemecker (Millennium, The X-Files), Dan Halsted (Any Given Sunday, The Virgin Suicides) and Marc Silvestri.

The series revolves around an ancient, intelligent, symbiotic weapon The Witchblade and the master that it chooses - a woman of unmatched strength of mind and body.

But there is a catch - the bearer is transformed into both its master and its servant, as this mysterious weapon draws to it what it needs and casts aside what it does not. Stirring to life at times of crisis -- during wars, famines, pestilence -- the Witchblade has been used to cut a swath of blood and viscera through the ranks of previously insurmountable evil.

Set in present times, the series starts with an NYPD detective Sara Pezzini stumbling upon an ancient gauntlet, the Witchbalde, while investigating the murder of her childhood friend. The gauntlet melds onto her wrist and protects her from harm -- forever changing her destiny.

Also launching the same day is a Fox show Mad TV, which will air from Monday to Friday at 10:30 pm. A sketch-comedy show based on the humor of the cult MAD magazine. The show has material that include celebrity impersonations, music videos, commericals, movies, and TV show parodies, recurring characters, musical guests, and the occasional mock cartoons.

Launched to compete against another popular sketch-comedy show, the long-running Saturday Night Live the show is aimed at a younger audience. With the shows' revolving-door cast of talented, comedic actors and numerous Emmy Award nominations, MadTV was touted as an instant success.