Your TV Summer Schedule Old And New (Verp)

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TV recharges for summer with debuts and renewals
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
By Mekeisha Madden Toby, The Detroit News
Karen Neal
Kyra Sedgwick stars in TNT’s “The Closer,” which starts its fifth season Monday.

Slip and slide into a refreshing pool of TV reality shows, dramas and sitcoms this summer.

For those who prefer more serious distractions, TNT and Showtime are both launching dramatic series about dedicated nurses with “Hawthorne” and “Nurse Jackie,” respectively. In the meantime, NBC is rolling out a procedural about a rich man with a generous heart in “The Philanthropist.”

And that’s just the new offerings.

“Mad Men” fans will rejoice in the knowledge that summer also marks the award-winning series’ third return on AMC in August. Anxious couch potatoes also can expect new seasons this month from HBO’s “True Blood,” TNT’s “The Closer” and Lifetime’s “Army Wives.”

Read on to find out what other goodies summer TV has in store.
Comedies

“Weeds” (10 p.m. Monday, Showtime): The fifth season of this cannabis comedy picks back up with Nancy’s (Mary-Louise Parker) unexpected pregnancy.

“Food Party” (premieres 11:15 p.m. Tuesday, IFC): Thu Tran is a comedic genius. This is why her faux cooking show got picked up off the Web.

“Hung” (premieres 10 p.m. June 28, HBO): Thomas Jane (“The Mist”) stars as a guy who relies on his physical attributes when his financial prospects start to look bleak.

“Warehouse 13” (premieres 9 p.m. July 7, Sci Fi): Two Secret Service agents are transferred to a top-secret storage facility after saving the president’s life.

“Entourage” (10:30 p.m. July 12, HBO): Season six finds Vince (Adrian Grenier) in a career upturn thanks to a much-needed role in a Martin Scorsese flick.

“Eureka” (9 p.m. July 29, Sci Fi): Season three of this science-nerd series trumpets a Sheriff Carter (Colin Ferguson) comeback.

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (August, HBO): It didn’t look like Larry David would be back for a seventh season, but he will, and co-star Vivica A. Fox assures that the “Blacks are back!”
Dramas

“Burn Notice” (9 p.m. tomorrow, USA Network): Former CIA agent Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) returns for a third season of espionage and jury rigging.

“The Listener” (premieres 10 p.m. tomorrow, NBC): The protagonist, Toby (Craig Olejnik), is a paramedic and a telepath.

“Royal Pains” (premieres 10 p.m. tomorrow, USA): After he’s fired from his hospital, doctor Hank Lawson (Mark Feuerstein) becomes a doctor-on-demand to the rich in the Hamptons.

“Army Wives” (10 p.m. Sunday, Lifetime): The show is called “Army Wives,” but one of the best characters on this third-season drama is Army husband Roland Burton (Sterling K. Brown), and we can’t wait to find out what’s new.

“The Closer” (9 p.m. Monday, TNT): The fact that Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) is a married woman now should only make season five more interesting, and at the very least, more funny.

“Raising the Bar” (10 p.m. Monday, TNT): Co-star Mark-Paul Gosselaar’s shorter hair foreshadows a much-improved second season.

“Nurse Jackie” (premieres 10:30 p.m. Monday, Showtime): Emmy-winning actress Edie Falco delivers a convincing and amazing performance as a dedicated but troubled RN, but the first episode’s surprise ending is less believable.

“True Blood” (9 p.m. June 14, HBO): We’ll finally find out the fate of show-stealer Lafayette (Nelsan Ellis) in the season-two return.

“Hawthorne” (premieres 9 p.m. June 16, TNT): Actress Jada Pinkett Smith says people love medical dramas. But the question is: Will viewers love this one, which has her playing a widowed nurse with nerves of steel?

“The Cleaner” (10 p.m. June 23, A&E): Actor Benjamin Bratt returns for a second season as intervention worker William Banks.

“The Philanthropist” (premieres 10 p.m. June 24, NBC): James Purefoy (“Rome”) stars as a billionaire playboy turned vigilante do-gooder.

“Mad Men” (August, AMC): So, Don (Jon Hamm) and Betty (January Jones) stayed together for the baby. This kind of arrangement never ends well.

“Monk” (9 p.m. Aug. 7, USA): The finale season begins.

“Psych” (10 p.m. Aug. 7, USA): A new season of hijinks.
Reality and game shows

“I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here” (8 p.m. Monday- Thursday, beginning tonight, NBC ): The fact that fallen Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s wife Patti will appear on this reality show in lieu of her hubby says it all. Other big names include reality stars Spencer Pratt, Heidi Montag and Sanjaya Malakar. Yikes!

“Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List” (10 p.m. June 8, Bravo): The season-five opener finds our girl Griffin in unfamiliar territory when she hangs out with A-lister Bette Midler.

“Hammertime” (premieres 10 p.m. June 14, A&E): This 10-part series follows fallen rapper MC Hammer, his wife of 23 years and their six children.

“Wedding Day” (premieres 8 p.m. June 16, TNT): This show goes against the trend and follows cash-strapped couples vying for their dream weddings. Look for Metro Detroit couples Jaenelle and Nyk and teachers Jennifer and Shawn.

“America’s Got Talent” (9 p.m. June 23, NBC): Expect the return of judges David Hasselhoff, Piers Morgan and Sharon Osbourne, as well as the show’s new host, actor Nick Cannon, in the fourth season.

“Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader” (8 p.m. July 3, Fox): The third season of one of America’s most popular game shows continues with host Jeff Foxworthy.

“Big Brother 11” (8 p.m. July 9, CBS): If casting calls in Detroit, Las Vegas and New Orleans are any indication, this should be an intriguing installment of “Big Brother.”

First published on June 3, 2009 at 12:00 am

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