With the upfronts behind us, we now know what the face of Fall TV is going to look like. Am I the only one who’s reaction was a big, “meh?” That’s not to say that there’s not a lot of new shows to be excited about. Glee in particular looks outstanding, and I’m also looking forward to Flash Forward and, yes Aryeh, even NCIS: LA. All in all though, I’m not left with that feeling of excitement that I have in years past. I think, I know the reason:
When did the summer schedule get so good? Its not even the networks, either. Cable has come to play in the last couple of years, and it seems that they want to own the summer. Its a mix of new shows and returning favorites, but I think its funny that I’m looking more forward to the summer than the fall. Lets just take a look at some of the shows returning:
In Plain Sight (USA, Sundays 10/9c, airing now): If you’re not watching Mary McCormick, start now. Her US Marshall Mary Shannon is a strong, but deeply flawed, woman. Oddly, though, she knows her flaws, and owns them. The show also manages a great guest cast, and is fun to watch each week.
Burn Notice (USA, Thursdays 9/8c, June 4th): I came late to the Burn Notice train, but I’m very happy to say that I’m on board now. Jeffrey Donovan’s Michael Westen continues his quest to clear his name, and take up odd jobs in the mean time. His idea of an odd job, though, is more likely to be taking down a local drug ring than, you know, mowing lawns. Oh, and Gabrielle Anwar’s Fiona and Bruce Campbell’s Sam round out one of the best teams on TV.
The Closer (TNT, Mondays 9/8c, June 8th): The Kyra Sedgwick drama enters its fifth season, where we will finally get to see how married life affects Deputy Chief Brenda Lee Johnson. This show really hit its stride in its second season, and hasn’t let up since. The team dynamic that works so well might just finally be truly tested in the built up animosity between Sgt. Gabriel and Det. Daniels.
True Blood (HBO, Sundays 9/8c, June 14th): Based on the OTHER popular vampire book series, this is definitely not one that you should let your teenage daughters watch. Exploring the more seedy (read: sexy and dark) of vampire lore, the show will be going in some different directions now that the first season’s serial killer story line has been wrapped up. I’m curious to see how long Anna Paquin’s Sookie can stay true to Stephen Moyer’s Bill, with Alexander Skarsgård’s Eric around.
Saving Grace (TNT, Tuesdays 10/9c, June 16): One of the more interesting premises on TV today, Holly Hunter plays Det. Grace Hanadarko, a hard working, hard partying homicide cop. Leon Rippy plays her ‘last chance angel,’ Earl. Last season, Earl also helped Muslim Leon Cooley. Its a subtle exploration of religion you won’t see anywhere else.
Leverage (TNT, Wednesdays 9/8c , July 15): It was a smash hit this winter, and probably one of the most popular shows around the halls at CliqueClack central (And I promise I’m not making that up. Well, maybe a little). If Burn Notice has ONE of the best teams, here is THE best. It is one part Ocean’s 11, one part A-Team, and one part Awesome. Watch. This. Now.
Other great shows returning this summer include Rescue Me (FX, Tuesdays, 10/9c, airing now), Raising the Bar (TNT, Mondays 10/9c, June 8th), Entourage (HBO, Sundays, July 12th), Pysch (USA, unannounced) and Monk (USA, unannounced). What have I missed, and what are you looking forward to?
Clacked by Ivey West 
on May 21, 2009 @ 16:58 EST5EDT
NCIS: LA … Really?
Hey, you can look forward to haircut day, too. Doesn’t mean it’s going to be good. :)
Don’t forget Weeds and Army Wives. I’m not looking forward to a number of your above mentioneds, but that doesn’t stop the summer from being jam-packed with hits. I just wish we didn’t get these mini seasons; its rarely long enough to really get back into a show.
I highly recommend In Plain Sight. Great show. True Blood is pretty cool too.
You totally forgot Eureka and Warehouse 13, which will premiere in July on SciFi and kick off the change to the ridiculous name.
I’m undecided about Warehouse 13, but looking forward to giving it a try. And really looking forward to the return of Eureka.
*POST AUTHOR*
I did forget Eureka… I’ve been forgetting it since the first season. I gave it a chance, and it never cliqued (ha!) for me.
I am looking forward to Warehouse 13 though. Don’t know if it will work, but I’m going to give it a chance.
Can’t wait for Burn Notice and Leverage. Definitely must sees!
You don’t like Eureka, really? I love it. It just makes me smile to watch.
The Cleaner is pretty good too on A&E.
New shows I’ll check out: W13 (scifi or will it by syfy by then?), Royal Pains (USA), and Hawthorne (TNT). Maybe Dark Blue (TNT).
*POST AUTHOR*
I’m looking forward to all of those new ones except for Hawthorne. JPS has never done it for me. W13 looks like its got a lot of potential. And I love Mark Feuerstein.
Definitely missing weeds. It took almost all of fourth season to clear up most of the lame that has permeated the series lately and the fifth season looks fantastic!
*POST AUTHOR*
I loved Season one of Weeds, but the second season kinda lost me. I love the cast, and the writing is top notch, but it just couldn’t hold me. I need to give it another chance, though… I did watch bits and pieces of last season.
Monk? I thought that was done.
Can’t wait for “Entourage” and “The Closer”. “Leverage” is so/so for me. Sometimes I can’t manage to suspend my disbelief, other times I’m totally on board. I hope they finally manage to come across totally cool
But E and his boys as well as Fritzi and Brenda… tee he he… love those two shows.
Eureka – no. In Plain Sight – meh. True Blood – nah. Saving Grace – bah. Burn Notice? – Voiceovers from Hell.
Now about stuff you missed:
You could try and find out when “The Cleaner” will be back
https://www.aetv.com/news/?id=374962
And another show. It’s set in the 60s. It won a couple of Emmys. You know. Advertising.
Just saying ;-)
*POST AUTHOR*
Ok, here it is. I’m ashamed to admit that I might just be the only person one the planet that feels this way… But, I just don’t get Mad Men. I was going to include it at the bottom, but I just concentrated on stuff coming out in June and July. MM’s not due back until August (And yes, I know its still summer, but at that point it really wasn’t the “summer season”).
Yeah, and I don’t know enough about the Cleaner. One of those things I’ve been told about, but I haven’t had a chance to see it, or really learn about it. Maybe I just have an irrational subconscious NOT to see it because of Grace Park (I kid, Tim-1, I kid!).
Hey man, your loss on Leverage. To me, its no more or less realistic than most things on TV. And its fun. As Jane said in her post about Glee, more “fun” stuff on TV is good for us.
“Mad Men” – sorry, but I’m with Bob Sassone on that one. Best done show on TV. And there are few things I agree with Bob on.
“Leverage”: I know, it’s sad that I don’t get totally into “Leverage”. Like I said, sometimes it’s just not “clicking” with me, but like “Ocean’s 12″ and “Ocean’s 13″, while nowhere near as good as “Ocean’s 11″, it’s still fun to watch. I mean I watch it, I enjoy it, but it’s not as great as “Entourage” or “The Closer” for me. Or “Glee” for that matter. God I loved “Glee” and I’m still hating myself for it ;-)
“The Cleaner”, I KNEW you were going to give a shout-out to Tim-1 :-D
Funny enough, works for me, even though I don’t like the faith aspect of that show. I usually find myself hating shows that heavily lie on the “Give yourself up” aspect when it comes to getting clean, but on this show it works.
And every week Grace Park drives another Supercar. I mean… dude… Grace Park in Supercars… *drool* ;-)
I won’t go to the extreme of saying it sucks, but I stand proudly beside you, Ivey, and say that Mad Men is not for me. My wife loves it, so I’ve certainly tried it, and inadvertantly caught it, over the past two seasons, but there’s nothing about it, beyond knowing that John Slattery’s in it, that’s good about it.
Mad Men = Boring!!!
No it’s not. Your stupid
(sic!) ;-)
Have you heard anything about “V”? I think I might like that show.
Sebastian….I noticed Grace Park’s character has an affinity for flashy cars as well. Grace should get FAR more screen time in that show than she does, but at least she is having fun. Also, she is THE brightest aspect of the show, in spite of her limited screen time. It is nice to see that you appreciate her. And (ha) as far as my friend Dorv, I once wrote that if he didn’t stir me up from time to time I’d think he was mad at me.
*POST AUTHOR*
I’m looking forward to V, but it didn’t get scheduled for the Fall, so it will be Midseason some time. Its got a great cast (Mitchell , Tudyk, Wolf, Baccarin, Gretsch, Chestnut) and I love the premise (There was apparently much plopping down by the TV by little Dorv when the miniseries was on back in the day).
I love tweaking Tim-1. Just wish he (and Akbar and BSG) would invest some time into learning Twitter.
I watched a few early episodes of the Cleaner, Grace was fun to watch, but I gave up because I felt the show was a little weak.
V looks great. The clips and trailers going around are pretty amazing. I must admit, the whole concept was frightening to me then, and I have only lost part of that fright now.
Dorv: Regarding Twitter, forgive me as I reveal my ingorance – I guess I don’t even know what I’m missing. I know only the very basics about it, so if you want me involved you’ll have to spoon feed it to me! ;)
Geez guys… how am I going to un-imagine that spoon-feeding now? *snicker*
If you use Firefox BSG, just get “TwitterFox”. Everything else is visiting twitter.com to sign up for a username and then find the users you want to follow. Twitter is like indirectional text-messaging – imaging texting all the people on your cellphones phonebook at once… it’s like microblogging. Facebook’s “what are you doing right now” is kind of like Twitter.
Whatever the case…. Ivey West (Dorv), we will continue to follow your posts here at clique clack. So say we all!
I couldn’t get into Mad Men either and my taste is pretty eclectic Eureka, Closer, Leverage, Psych, IPS, Damages….