Premiering summer this
On cable, the warm months mean series business
Once upon a time, summer TV meant an occasional four-week variety series hosted by a comedian, plus all the shows you already saw from September to May. Today, however, with the cable universe adding approximately 10,000 new channels to the equation, summer has dozens of its own new shows.
So here are some of the more intriguing openings over the next couple of months.
Sunday, June 3:
“Longmire,” A&E. Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor) is a rural sheriff whose skill at his job can usually offset debilitating personal issues. Usually.
Walt’s a contemplative man who has been thrown off his game by the death of his wife. Now a couple of things have come together to wake him up, and that’s where the adventure begin. Walt is closer to Jes
se Stone than Raylan Givens, but he shares with both a passion to do his job as the good guy.
Tuesday, June 5:
“Rizzoli and Isles,” TNT. Two women from different universes, Angie Harmon’s Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander’s Maura Isles, come together to solve crimes.
It’s a decent police procedural, but it’s really a story about friends, and better yet, it’s funny in a way that’s clever, never lazy.
Wednesday, June 13:
“Dallas,” TNT This isn’t a reboot as much as a continuation of the original “Dallas,” with the same themes of conniving and backstabbing and greed.
Larry Hagman's J.R. and Patrick Duffy's Bobby are back, and now they’ve got company — their kids, who turn out to be chips off the old oil rig.
Sunday, June 24:
“The Newsroom,” HBO You may think you’ve seen this one before: An anchorman goes rogue and decides to tell the truth. Needless to say, this disrupts the natural flow of TV news, but not in the way you might expect.
It’s not treated as an act of madness, but as a rational response to where we all are today with politics and media.
Aaron Sorkin, who wrote “The West Wing,” has been working on this for a couple of years. Jeff Daniels stars, and this could be his best performance. Thursday, June 28: “Anger Management,” FX. No one at this point knows how good this sitcom will be. But for the purposes of drawing firstnight viewers, who cares?
This is the new Charlie Sheen show, created after FX saw a golden opportunity and rescued him from the straitjacket into which he had zipped himself when he left “Two and a Half Men.”
Thursday, June 28:
“Awkward,” MTV. Humor-laced dramas about high school are pretty easy to find, but really good ones remain elusive — and this is a very good one.
In this returning series, Ashley Rickards plays the lead character as sometimes baffled, but always just tough enough. We like her for the right reasons, not out of cheap sentiment.
Sunday, July 8:
“Insane Coaster Wars,” Travel. Looking for the best roller coaster in the country: It’s no more profound than that, and no less fun. If you had to pick one quintessential summer show, how could you go against this one?
MONDAY, JULY 9:
“The Closer,” TNT. It’s the start of the final season for Kyra Sedgwick’s Brenda Leigh Johnson, and frankly, things are not looking that rosy.
So what we have here is a genuine cliffhanger. We know she’s leaving, but we don’t know if she walks through the door or she will be led through the door.
Bonus: The spinoff “Major Crimes,” starring Mary McDonnell, launches Aug. 13.
Tuesday, July 10:
“White Collar,” USA. USA rolls out almost all its shows in the summer, and they’re all good, solid light fun: “Royal Pains” and “Necessary Roughness” start their seasons June 6, “Burn Notice” and
“Suits” on June 14, then “White Collar” and “Covert Affairs” on July 10 before newcomer "Political Animals" arrives July 15.
“White Collar” is the most fun, for my money. When we last saw Neal Caffrey, he was aboard a plane fleeing the country, accompanied by Mozzie and his own sense of ambivalence. It will be interesting to see how he gets back.
Wednesday, July 11:
“Damages,” DirecTV. This complex tale of high intrigue, betrayal and a showdown between teacher and pupil concludes at the end of this season. If you haven’t watched, to be honest, you may have trouble catching up. But for those who have stayed with it, this is the payoff.
Sunday, July 15:
“Political Animals,” USA. Sigourney Weaver stars in this show, which is a little different from some other USA fare but promises its own charms.
Sunday, July 15:
“Breaking Bad,” AMC. It’s a mark of the world “Breaking Bad” has created that even when Walt managed to blow up the bad guy who wanted to kill him, his life still hangs by a thread. This final season, which will include eight episodes this summer and eight more in summer 2013, starts with everyone’s back to the wall, which is just how the “BB” crowd likes it.
Sunday, Aug. 12:
“Hell on Wheels,” AMC. This dark and dusty Western features one of the best ensemble casts anywhere on TV these days, starting with Anson Mount and Common.
It’s about the transcontinental railroad, sort of, but it’s more about race and justice and survival in a place where there aren’t a lot of rules.
Friday, Aug. 17:
“Boss,” Starz. The first season didn’t leave a whole lot of the cast standing, so there will be some new faces come season two. But Kelsey Grammer will be back as Chicago Mayor Tom Kane, and that should ensure a lot of first-rate political and human drama.
Sunday, Aug. 19:
“Copper,” BBC America. BBC America's first original series for the U.S. market is set in New York around the time of the Civil War. It's about police, class, power and all that stuff.
And that's just for starters.