SUMMERTIME AND THE VIEWING IS EASY

Here's a little news blurb about summer viewing options in Toobworld:

"IFC, aka Independent Film Channel, has added two new half-hour programs to its summer line-up. The first, called 'The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman', is about two best friends who are struggling to make it in Hollywood. One is a screenwriter and the other is an aspiring producer. Laura Kightlinger, head writer of 'Will & Grace', created and stars. The second series, called 'The Business', follows the bumbling cast of a previous series called 'The Festival' as they try to make a movie."

As soon as 'The Business' premieres, it's automatically up for Crossover of the Week as a sequel.

Reading that story gave me the idea to seek out when the rest of my favorite summer shows are coming back, as well as those other dramatic and comedic presentations which will be making their debuts over the next few months and which will be expanding the boundaries of the TV Universe.

And by that I mean, if you want to know about various summertime reality programming and game shows, look elsewhere!

Basically, the summertime lineup has already kicked off with the return of 'Rescue Me' this past Tuesday night. The third season will be airing on FX at 10 pm for the next twelve Tuesdays.

Those episodes left for the once promising 'Commander In Chief' will be burned off on Wednesday nights at 10 pm. It returned last night to the ABC schedule now that May Sweeps are over.

As for the rest, my thanks go out to Zap2It.com for the dates and times for the following shows. Those that I was not familiar with, I figured you might not know about either; so I grabbed a few press release quotes to provide some descriptions.

Friday, June 2
8:30 p.m.
'Beyond the Break' (The N)

"'Beyond the Break' embodies every teen's dream -- to live on the beach, get paid and surf in Hawaii, America's paradise," said Kenny Miller, Vice President, Programming and Production, The N. "The series showcases the highs and lows of leaving home and confronting the reality that pursuing your dreams is much harder than you ever imagined."

Blah blah blah.

Sunday, June 4
8 p.m.
'Falcon Beach' (ABC Family)

"Filmed in the cottage community of Lake Winnipeg, Falcon Beach is about a group of young people summering in the fictional lakeside resort town of Falcon Beach. (I suppose it's still located in Canada.)
It's about summer. It's about freedom. It's about young adults trying to define themselves for the life ahead. But it's also about two worlds colliding - that of the summer cottagers and that of the townies who live and work in Falcon Beach year round. "

10 p.m.
'Footballers Wive$' (BBC America)

12:30 a.m.
'Tom Goes to the Mayor' (Cartoon Network)

I'm not a fan of this series at all, but I don't want to deny the Tooniverse its proper recognition among the TV dimensions.

Monday, June 5
11 p.m.
'Lovespring International' (Lifetime)

The new half-hour improvisational comedy series is about a dating service marketed to customers as an "elite Beverly Hills" company, despite its location in Tarzana, California. Made up of dysfunctional misfits or "relationship counselors," they desperately try to find love for their clients although they have no idea how to do it for themselves.

Wednesday June 7
10:30 pm
'Dog Bites Man' (Comedy Central)

In the same vein as 'Reno 911' rather than 'The Daily Show', this sitcom will look at the world of local news.

Please, God.... Let them work for WJM, Channel 12 in Minneapolis!

Thursdays June 8
10 pm
'Windfall' (NBC)
'Hex' (BBC-America)

'Windfall' is about a group who win the Lottery and one of its stars is Luke Perry. I'm not sure, but I'm getting a kind of 'Lost' vibe about the group dynamic. But my attention will be on 'Hex', about a modern day witch in England, with hopes that it might make some in-joke reference to either 'Charmed' or 'Buffy' or even 'Bewitched' that would work more as a crossover than a Zonk!.

Sunday, June 11
9 p.m.
'Deadwood' (HBO)
'The 4400' (USA)

10 p.m.
'Entourage' (HBO)

10:30 p.m.
'Lucky Louie' (HBO)

LaughMachine.com points out that Louis CK's sitcom for HBO "deviates from a traditional sitcom in several aspects, but also pays tribute to the earlier sitcoms like 'Good Times' and 'All in the Family'."

From the Boston Globe:
While All in the Family brought racism out into the open, the interactions between C.K.’s character and his black neighbor capture the more subtle realties of race relations today. In the pilot, Louie makes a series of clumsy, halfhearted attempts to invite the neighbors over. Finally, the neighbor tells Louie, “I get the distinct feeling that you’re just trying to acquire a black friend.” Louie replies: “That’s exactly what I’m doing. But I’m not doing it for me, I’m doing it for my daughter.”

Monday, June 12
9 p.m.
'The Closer' (TNT)

10 p.m.
'Saved' (TNT)

A new show about the travails of an EMT paramedic. Tom Everett Scott is the star.

Sunday, June 18
10 p.m.
'The Dead Zone' (USA)

Sunday, June 25
10:30 p.m.
'The Venture Bros.' (Cartoon)

Monday, June 26
8 p.m.
'Kyle XY' (ABC Family)

Kyle XY follows a mysterious boy who looks like a teenager, but otherwise appears to be a newborn. The Trager family takes him in as one of their own.

The series centers on Kyle (newcomer Matt Dallas), a mysterious teen-age boy, whose actions suggest that he is a newborn. Brought home from an institution by psychologist Nicole Trager (Marguerite McIntyre), Kyle’s presence initially engenders wariness with her family until he’s later accepted and begins to experience everyday things like computers, music and high-school parties.

(ABC Family also ordered eight more episodes of 'Beautiful People', a one-hour drama about a mother and two daughters who relocate from a small New Mexico town to Manhattan’s upper crust. I'm not sure when that will air.)

Wednesday, June 28
10 p.m.
'Blade: The Series' (Spike TV)

(As Blade is being played by Sticky Fingaz rather than Wesley Snipes, then its only connection to the movie universe is the basic storyline.)

Thursday, June 29
10 p.m.
'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia' (FX)

This was my favorite series of last summer, the one sitcom that has truly learned from the master, 'Seinfeld', to be its heir apparent. And now Danny DeVito is joining the gang as the father of Dennis and Dee. The restaurant scene they've been showing in the promos is spit-up funny.

Friday, June 30
9 p.m.
'Whistler' (The N)

From Yahoo.com:
"Things begin to go awry in Whistler, the seemingly perfect world-class mountain resort and home of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The series kicks off as the 2006 Olympic Snowboarding Gold Medalist, Beck McKaye (David Paetkau), is discovered dead on the slopes which sends shockwaves throughout the sleepy community. Beck's mysterious accident forever changes the lives of his friends and family -- especially his younger brother, 17-year-old Quinn. Quinn (Jesse Moss) digs deeper into the hidden life of his beloved brother and uncovers a side of Whistler, and its inhabitants, that he's never known." Saturday, July 1

10 p.m.
'Hustle' (AMC)

This looks to be the last season of the show; I think it only ran for three over in the UK. And I know Adrian Lester was hoping his pilot was going to be picked up over here.

(But now that he's free, Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse, he'd be an excellent additioin to the cast of 'Lost' as a representative of Widmore Labs......)

Friday, July 7
9 p.m.
'Monk' (USA)

10 p.m.
'PSYCH' (USA)

This is one of the three shows I'm most... psyched for. ('Hex' was the first one mentioned.) It co-stars Dule Hill and it's about a guy whose keen powers of observation are mistaken for psychic powers... a mistake he trades on to make money.

Sunday, July 9
10 p.m.
'Brotherhood' (Showtime)

"BROTHERHOOD tells the story of two brothers who sometimes share a twisted sense of moral compromise - both with their own skewed, idealistic visions of what makes the American dream. They live the lie that noble ends can sometimes only be accomplished through dubious means.

Tommy Caffee (JASON CLARKE) is a family man whose ambition and street smarts help him navigate the back-room dealings and underhanded tactics of Providence politics. He is a local politician out to protect "The Hill" and its interests by any means necessary. Tommy's complicated family and professional lives turn upside-down with the return of his gangster brother Mike (JASON ISAACS), who has come back to the neighborhood to regain control of its underworld activities."

10:30 p.m.
'Reno 911' (Comedy Central)

I think this season leads up to the theatrical movie release.

Friday, July 14
9 p.m.
'Stargate SG-1' (Sci Fi)

10 p.m.
'Stargate Atlantis' (Sci Fi)

Sunday, July 16
9 p.m.
'Angela's Eyes' (Lifetime)

From the producers of the Oscar-winning movie "Crash", comes the hour-long drama centering on Angela Henson, a young FBI agent who has the exceptional gift of knowing when someone is lying. (She discovered this skill at age 14, when she learned her "average" American parents were actually spies. )

Attempting to right her parents' wrong, Angela is now working with the same agency that brought her parents down. And while her unique ability is advantageous in her career, it hinders her personal life, preventing her to get close to the men she dates. (Which makes it perfect for Lifetime......)

Tuesday, July 18
9 p.m.
'Eureka' (Sci Fi)

And this completes the trifecta of my most-anticipated summer shows. Eureka is a small town in the Northwest populated by scientists working on top secret skiffy projects for the government. It should have a kind of 'Twin Peaks' vibe going for it.

Sunday, July 23
10 p.m.
'Three Moons Over Milford' (ABC Family)

From About.com:
"When a small town is facing a cosmic explosion threatening Earth’s existence, strange events are bound to begin happening. In the town of Milford, people are quitting their jobs, throwing caution to the wind and living as if it's their last day on earth. The series will focus on the Davis family. The father has left to travel the world, the teenage daughter, Lydia has begun studying Wicca and her brother Alex is on the verge of having an affair with his much-older neighbor. How extreme will this town go? That remains to be seen, but it certainly sounds intriguing."

It does indeed! This is the first I'm hearing about this show and I will definitely have to check it out for at least two episodes (the first and the last, the alpha and the omega). I might have to lump it over in a side dimension, maybe even the one in which those three NBC "Richter Scale" tele-flicks take place.

Monday, August 14
10 p.m.
'Weeds' (Showtime)


Well, I hope you find something of interest in that list to keep you plopped on the sofa for the rest of the summer.

Outdoor activities on a summer's eve are so over-rated......

BCnU!
Tele-Toby