TV is the New Reading

Summer looking good ... on cable

It’s Memorial Day weekend and time to get excited about summer programming ... on cable.

See, I’m already excited about the half-dozen episodes of “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” NBC is making into some very assorted hay. I’m vaguely aware of the episodes of “Traveler” ABC is planning heading into rerun season.

These aren’t nearly as interesting to me as the cable offerings, which treat summer as an untapped niche market rather than a loss-leader.

“The Closer,” my favorite in the returning summer lineup, walks a line between a psychological thriller and eye candy with Kyra Sedgwick’s pitch-perfect super-intuitive superheroine. New episodes start June 18 on TNT.

“Rescue Me” returns with New York firefighter Tommy Gavin as a broken antihero on the ropes of an arson investigation. At least, that’s what the previews make it look like. Past previews have been fairly deceptive as well, so take them for what they’re worth. Whatever they do come up with should be intense and solidly entertaining, if past seasons are anything to go by. New episodes start June 13 on FX.

“Monk” is back! OK, I know, I said I wasn’t too interested in Monk because he’d gotten off track and more than a bit silly at times, but sometimes quirky and all-too-predictable is exactly what you need going on in the background while you’re doing other things. Along with the “Worst Villians” marathon USA’s running this weekend (starting at 8 a.m. Sunday), the series returns with new episodes July 13.

And new “Monk” means new “psych.” I know I’m way more excited about this, because the show is so incredibly new and the first season was zany madcap funny. The characters are great, the chemistry between Shawn and Gus is magnificent and the entire cast seems to be having a blast with it. USA airs new episodes starting July 13 as well.

Also on deck are returning summer sci-fi series “Eureka” on SciFi and “The Dead Zone” and “The 4400,” both set for June 17 on USA. “The Dead Zone” wavered back and forth last season about whether it was about the world blowing up or whether someone’s house was haunted, so that was uneven to say the least, and I hope it’s a little stronger this season.

Meanwhile, “The 4400” was ramping up to a seriously exciting philosophical debate about whether the next step in human evolution should necessitate the destruction of half the population, and any show raising those kinds of questions is at least worth a look.

As for “Eureka,” it needs to decide whether it’s about science fiction or silly fiction right quick or it’s not worth the space on my DVR. New episodes start in July.

As for new summer series, I’m mostly looking forward to “The Starter Wife” with Debra Messing on USA, that debut set for May 31. And no, I haven’t heard anything about it at all. That’s how good its marketing has been. I’m looking forward to checking it out, tho.

I’m also looking forward to “Write & Wrong,” which seems to be a scripted romantic comedy about script-writing. I’ve heard almost nothing about that one, either, beyond it being a Lifetime movie featuring Kirstie Alley June 3.

And I’m sort of looking forward to “Burn Notice,” which is a summer spy drama on USA. If I sound iffy about it, it’s not the first spy drama USA has tried and they usually don’t last longer than an episode or two. The last good one was “Touching Evil,” starring Jeffrey Donovan. That one stumbled along through a dozen spring-season episodes before disappearing, never to be heard from again, back in 2005. “Burn Notice” – also starring Donovan – is set to start June 28.

One that I’m not looking forward to something called “Dr. Steve-O,” in which they turn a camera on the MTV “Jackass” cast member who appears to have suffered the most head injuries and then air it on USA, starting this fall. He’s meant to prescribe coolness in various situations. Just looking at the video on the show’s homepage on (usanetworks.com), erm ... good luck with that.

But for the most part, summer doldrums don’t have to mean bad summer programming. There’s some good out there I know I’m looking forward to. You just have to look for it.

Features Editor Terry J. Aman compiles the Best Bets for The Minot Daily News.

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