Summer TV: Top new and returning picks
No “Game of Thrones.” No “Outlander.” They’re not back till 2019 (on HBO and Starz). So TV might seem on pause this summer.
Except for “The Fosters,” “Sense8,” “Nashville,” “Girlfriends Guide to Divorce,” “Shades of Blue,” “Young & Hungry” and “Casual.” They all plan to air summer series finales. So they’re on fast-forward.
Which means this summer offers a prime slot for new shows to make their mark.
Maybe FX’s ’80s club scene saga “Pose” will strut to success. Or buzz could build over two hours produced by “UnREAL” bomb-thrower Marti Noxon: AMC’s “Dietland” and HBO’s “Sharp Objects.” It could even be some show that’s not on the radar.
‘POSE’
“Pose” (8 p.m. Sunday on FX) Looks like reality hit “RuPaul’s Drag Race” opened this door: Ryan Murphy (“Glee,” “American Horror Story”) dramatizes the ’80s glam ballroom/ vogue scene, where “freaks” get a chance to find themselves, and family. Murphy has pledged to donate profits to trans/LGBT groups. ‘SUCCESSION’
“Succession” (9 p.m. Sunday on HBO) Family feuding fuels this tale of a media conglomerate led by an aging patriarch (Brian Cox), who ignites battles among his offspring (Jeremy Strong, Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, Alan Ruck). ‘DIETLAND’
“Dietland” (8 p.m. Monday on AMC) The first of two summer series from Marti Noxon adapts Sarai Walker’s subversive novel at the perfect #MeToo moment. Julianna Margulies headlines her dark comedy as a picture-perfect magazine editor, whose ghostwriter (Joy Nash) takes mad-women matters into her own weapon-wielding hands. One sign it’s primed for big buzz: AMC aftershow “Unapologetic With Aisha Tyler”
‘MARVEL’S CLOAK & DAGGER’ “Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger” ( Thursday at 6 p.m. on Freeform) Yes, more from the comic-book company, this time focused on two teens (Olivia Holt, Aubrey Joseph) suddenly coping with mysteriously linked superpowers. ‘NASHVILLE’
“Nashville” ( Thursday at 7 p.m. on CMT) The country music soap’s final eight episodes conclude with July 26 series finale. ‘AMERICAN WOMAN’
“American Woman” ( Thursday at 7 p.m. on Paramount) Alicia Silverstone finds a mind of her own when ’70s Hollywood wives strike out on their own. With Mena Suvari, Jennifer Bartels.
‘GOTTI: GODFATHER & SON’
“Gotti: Godfather & Son” (Starts June 8-9 at 8 p.m. and then 6 p.m. on A&E) Four-hour “Biography” special charts the mob family, with a John Gotti Jr. interview, plus footage from the father and son’s last visit at a medical center for federal prisoners.
‘LOVE IS ____’
“Love Is ____” (Starts June 19 at 7 p.m. on OWN) Mara Brock Akil (“Girlfriends”) and Salim Akil (“Black Lightning”) produce a series with stars Michele Weaver and Will Catlett echoing their lives as a Hollywood power couple.
‘YELLOWSTONE’ “Yellowstone” (Starts June 20 at 7 p.m. on Paramount) Kevin Costner stars as a megaranch owner juggling challenges from land developers, American Indians, family members and more. With Kelly Reilly, Wes Bentley, Luke Grimes, Cole Hauser.
‘TAKE TWO’
“Take Two” (Starts June 21 at 8 p.m. on ABC) Producers from “Castle” try another lighthearted procedural, with Rachel Bilson as a TV cop sprung from rehab to research her comeback with Eddie Cibrian’s private eye. ‘SHARP OBJECTS’
“Sharp Objects” (Starts July 8 on HBO) Amy Adams stars in a limited series (eight episodes) from the novel by Gillian Flynn (“Gone Girl”): A reporter’s trip home to cover a grisly murder forces her to face a psychological puzzle. Directed by Jean-Marc Vallee (“Big Little Lies”), for showrunner Marti Noxon.
‘ROBIN WILLIAMS: COME INSIDE MY MIND’
“Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind” (Starts July 16 on HBO) On the heels of Dave Itzkoff’s acclaimed biography comes this portrait from director Marina Zenovich and producer Alex Gibney. The comic’s own words speak here, along with comments from intimates like Billy Crystal, David Letterman, Eric Idle and son Zak Williams.
SHARK WEEK
Shark Week (Starts July 22 on Discovery) The first promo featured Shaquille O’Neal—who thought he’d signed on for Shaq Week—so anything seems possible this 30th time around. ‘BURDEN OF TRUTH’
“Burden of Truth” (Starts July 25 on CW) Kristen Kreuk plays a big-city lawyer whose return home involves her in a local fight for justice. From producers of “Rookie Blue.”