The summer television season has never been something people look forward to. At least people who actually like leaving their house. For years it seemed like it was just the time when all the shows you watched during the school year would air their repeats. However, the dawn of the high quality cable show has changed things. Many cable shows now premiere the new season, or the series, as the temperatures rise into the 90’s.
This summer is no different, even though the “summer” show I look forward to the most (“Mad Men”) will not be premiering until 2012. But AMC and other networks are still returning some of their best shows and a few interesting new series will premiere as well.
Here is a list of 10 shows I am looking forward to in order of premiere date.
“The In-Betweeners” (BBC America)
Premiere Date – Saturday, June 18th, 11pm
So in England South Park
“Falling Skies” (TNT)
Premiere Date – Sunday, June 19th, 9pm
You know how “The Walking Dead” opened up an undetermined time after the zombies took over the world? Well this opens up six months after aliens take over the world, so pretty much the same thing. I’m not overly excited for this; in fact I doubt I’ll watch more than the premiere. But I will give it a shot and would say the same should go for any fan of sci-fi television. In terms of the cast, Noah Wyle from “ER” is the star and Moon Bloodgood plays his wife (click here to listen to me rant about her in Terminator Salvation, and also discuss the original Hangover with my friend Eric). Oh, and some guy named Steven Spielberg is executive producing. No one attached to this project (including Spielberg) got me really excited for this until I saw Will Patton is in it. I love Will Patton. I dare you to compare his performances in “Armageddon” and “Gone in Sixty 60 Seconds” against any other wingman performance in the history of cinema.
“The Challenge: Rivals” (MTV”
Premiere Date – Wednesday, June 22nd, 10pm
I’m not going to waste your or my time. You either watch this or you don’t. And if you watch it, you live it. This ain’t a game to us anymore! This is Rivals baby!
After looking at the list of teams, I have to say I’m a little disappointed. The only two I’m really looking forward to are Wes/Kenny (my pick for the winner) and CT/Adam because CT could literally cook and eat Adam and I wouldn’t be shocked. I might stop what I was doing when I heard it, but shocked? No.
“Wilfred”/”Louie” (FX)
Premiere Date – Thursday, June 23rd, 10pm/10:30pm
Let’s knock both these out in one since they’re airing back to back. I’m throwing this down; FX is my favorite cable network right now. AMC comes close, but I didn’t watch “Rubicon” and have fallen out of love with “The Killing” very fast. I’d give a slight advantage to a “Mad Men”/”Breaking Bad” combo over “Sons of Anarchy”/”Justified”, but the rest of FX’s stuff combined is much better than “The Walking Dead” on its own. Plus, FX is killing comedies right now. I’ve been on the “Sunny” bandwagon since it left the station and “Archer” quickly became one of my favorite shows as well. So despite my distaste for Elijah Wood (except for “Green Street Hooligans”, that movie kicks ass) I am giving “Wilfred” a chance based on the network’s track record. And I love Louie C.K.’s standup so much I’d watch him take a dump on paper, which I did when I say a movie he wrote called “Pootie Tang” in the theater. See, I got jokes too!
“True Blood”/”Curb Your Enthusiasm”/”Entourage” (HBO)
Premiere Date – Sunday, June 26th, 9pm/Sunday, July 10th, 10pm/Sunday, July 24th, 10pm
You know my favorite thing on “True Blood” is? It’s not the nudity. It’s not the violence. It’s not the underrated humor. It’s certainly not Sookie and Bill. It’s Hoyt and Jessica. I don’t need to defend myself to you; I just want you to know what I think the best part of the show is.
I’m sad “Curb” is ending but I also think it’s time and I’m interested to see how this season in New York Bell
I will have another post coming during the summer about “Entourage” and its run’s similarity to a certain NBA career. For right now, just know it’s coming in July, it will be its last season, and it might be followed by a movie after that. Oh, and that movie will suck.
“Rescue Me” (FX)
Premiere Date – Tuesday, July 12th, 10pm
I know I already touched on FX, but I wanted to give “Rescue Me” its own slot since this will be its final season. “Rescue Me” was one of the first cable shows I really got into and quickly became appointment viewing for me. While it’s nowhere near as good as it was (although anything is better than Season 4 was) it’s still bears a close enough resemblance to the first three seasons that I enjoy it. I had heard it will end its 7th season on 9/11/11 marking the ten year anniversary of 9/11, which has been a key theme throughout the series. A friend of mine brought up a good point though; the writers will have to rewrite whatever they had so far since the news of Bin Laden’s death. I’m sure that will be taken care of and am looking forward to the series finale because no matter how bad the season was, “Rescue Me” always delivered with the finales.
“Breaking Bad” (AMC)
Premiere Date – Sunday, July 17th, 9pm
I gave “Breaking Bad” a shot over a year ago and didn’t care for it. It was just too depressing for me and I couldn’t see myself watching that every week. Then AMC starting re-airing the episodes starting from the beginning and I tried again. The show was very different after the first season and I am now totally hooked. It’s by no means a happy show, but it’s a lot less in your face depressing and the storylines have become so much more complex and interesting. I highly recommend this show; especially if you love crystal meth which CW’s research says is most of you.
So there you have it. I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable summer. One last thing, I know it’s difficult to stay indoors when the weather is so nice. But please don’t neglect TV’s people, they need love too.
-Dr. Jack
