So what are you looking forward to watching this summer?
So here we are at the end of another television season. We’re all exhausted from watching all of the finales, whether it was American Idol or The Office or Grey’s Anatomy or Desperate Housewives (there’s still one biggie left to come next week: Lost!), and we’re ready to take the summer off and enjoy cheeseburgers and the beach and fireworks and road trips, making sure we don’t turn on our televisions unless it’s for the news or maybe some daily soaps.
Of course, television doesn’t really work that way anymore. There is no complete summer hiatus on the networks anymore. They all have reality shows and new scripted shows too, both network and cable. Here are the four shows that I’m most looking forward to watching this summer, and - God help me - there’s one reality show in the mix.
1. Mad Men (AMC): This is part of the new Thursday “Must-See TV” for me (along with 30 Rock and The Office), and I named it the best TV show for a reason: nothing else comes close when it comes to the overall writing, acting, directing, and cinematography of this look at a NYC ad agency in 1960. It’s so good it makes me want to take up smoking, and get married just so I can cheat on my wife! The new season starts in July.
2. Burn Notice (USA): I’m so happy this show got a second season. It’s a real throwback to the loner hero-type shows that we used to see in the 80s. Jeffrey Donovan plays an ex-spy who settles in Miami and tries to find out who screwed him out of a job, all the while helping other people with their problems with the help of Bruce Campbell and Gabrielle Anwar. Simply one of the most entertaining shows to debut in years.
3. The Mole (ABC): There aren’t many times I use the phrase “I’m going to watch a reality show,” but this is one that will probably have me hooked. Now, it’s in that special category of reality/game show, so that’s probably why I like it. This new version won’t have Anderson Cooper (he’s on CNN now so Jon Kelley takes over), but it’s also not one of those dreaded celebrity editions, so I bet this is going to be fun. Premieres on June 2 at 10.
4. Swingtown (CBS): I didn’t realize that this show was going to premiere so early (June 5), but it looks like it’s worth checking out. Swingers in ’70s suburbia with probably lots of pot smoking and disco songs. I could do without the disco, but this could be so dirty that it’s fun.
The rest of the summer will be spent catching up on episodes of John Doe I missed and watching stuff like Hulu and AOL Video. Oh, and tennis! How about you?