It’s that time of year again in TV land… the summer doldrums. All of your favorite shows have wrapped up their seasons (Greys Anatomy, 30 Rock, etc) for the year or for good (Lost, 24, Ugly Betty, sniff sniff). But don’t let that get you down. There is actually a lot of pretty great summer programming headed your way. So if you’re not too busy catching up on your TiVo or rewatching Lost on dvd, take a look at the shows I recommend you watch this summer…
So You Think You Can Dance (Fox): televisions best dancing show already returned to the airwaves last week and is set to burn up the tube all summer. With incredible talent, the best host out there Miss Cat Deeley and great judges like Adam Shankman, returnee Mia Michaels, and the one you hate executive producer Nigel Lithgowe, this Emmy winning show is required summer viewing. Plus, Mary “hot tamale” Murphy will be back as a choreographer and guest judge and there will be an all-star crew of former competitors helping out this year’s contestants.
Drop Dead Diva: returning Sunday 6/6, Lifetime’s best scripted show is back for a second season. This delightful dramedy mixes legal cases with the romantic travails of Jane, a plus sized lawyer, played by Emmy worthy Broadway vet Brooke Elliott, who died but was resurrected with the soul of a wannabe model. The show is full of hilarity and heart and great guest stars like Paula Abdul and Liza Minnelli.
True Blood (HBO): TV’s sexiest vampire fest is back for season 3 on June 13th. It has drama, sex, blood, vampires, werewolves, shape-shifters and more from Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball. It also has the hottest cast on TV with Ryan Kwanten, Alexander Saarsgard and a bunch of hot newbies back to mix it up with Golden Globe nominee Anna Paquin’s Sookie Stackhouse.
Top Chef (Bravo): The Emmy nominated culinary challenge show is back for another cycle, this time set in D.C. This show usually has the best reality casting around plus the great hosting duo in Emmy nominees Padma Laksmi and Tom Colicchio. It premieres Wed June 16.
The Closer (TNT): Emmy nominee and Golden Globe winner Kyra Sedgewick takes on the 6th season of the surprisingly addictive and fun cop drama The Closer beginning July 12.
White Collar (USA): starring one of the hottest and most talented actors around, Matthew Bomer, White Collar begins its second season on July 13. Bomer’s con man is forced to work with the FBI or face jail time in this fun caper series that also boasts a new cast member this season (upgraded from a one time guest spot),a lesbian FBI agent played by Lost‘s Marsha Thomson.
Weeds (Showtime): the pot dealing mom comedy starring Golden Globe and Emmy winner Mary Louise Parker stirs up trouble for season five beginning August 16.
The Big C (Showtime): also premiering August 16 is the new dark comedy, The Big C, starring Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Laura Linney as a woman dealing with life after a new cancer diagnosis. The show which looks much funnier than it sounds also stars Oliver Platt and recent Oscar nominee Gabourey Sidibe (Precious).
Hot in Cleveland (TV Land): TV Land’s first original sitcom, Hot in Cleveland, follows sitcom vet Valerie Bertinelli and Emmy nominees Wendie Malick and Jane Leeves as three LA ladies who rellocate to Ohio. There they must deal with a snarky landlord played by TV legend and multiple Emmy winning diva Betty White. I CAN’T WAIT! It premieres June 16.
So, those are the shows I’m most anticipating, but there are also several more I’d recommend. They include Kathy Griffin: Life on the D List (Bravo), Burn Notice (USA), Rupaul’s Drag U (Logo), Royal Pains (USA), Hung (HBO), Psych (USA), Last Comic Standing (NBC), Mad Men (AMC), and the new shows Memphis Beat (TNT) with Jason Lee, Huge (ABC Family) starring Nikki Blonsky from Hairspray, and Covert Affairs (USA) with Piper Perabo.
So far, the summer television season has been pretty lackluster. While we have some great staples like True Blood, Drop Dead Diva and So You Think You Can Dance, the rest of the new offerings (like the incredibly frustrating and self-aggrandizing The Newsroom) have been underwhelming or just plain terrible (The Choice and every dating show ever!). So, thank goodness we have some new great choices on the way. Along with the anticipated new seasons of Project Runway, Breaking Bad, The Closer and USA’s hot hits White Collar, Burn Notice and Covert Affairs comes what might just be the best show of the summer, Political Animals. In this limited drama series, Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver as a former First Lady of the United States currently serving as Secretary of State with lots of political ambitions and a whole lot of family drama. The show will be looking at the dynamics of government and family and features an incredible cast including Cirian Hands, Josh Wolk, Sebastian Stan, Carla Gugino and Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn. It also hails from the brilliant mind of Greg Berlanti (Brothers & Sisters, Eli Stone, Everwood, Dirty Sexy Money), so you know it’s going to be great. I, for one, am incredibly excited and I think you will be too after you watch the trailer below. Check it out and then set your dvr for Political Animals debuting on USA on July 15th.
