Summer TV Preview

1. May 26: Mental premieres (9pm on Fox)
It’s officially a small world after all: This new medical drama is shot in studios in Bogata, Colombia, not Burbank, despite being set in LA. One mystery remains: Why will we export our stars (Chris Vance from Prison Break, Annabella Sciorra of the Sopranos) to South America, but it’s only this summer that we’ll import the original British version of The Office for American TV (on Adult Swim)?

2. May 30: Pushing Daisies returns (10pm on ABC)
Death became them, but the sweeter-than-pie show about a pie-maker-cum-corpse-reanimator (Lee Pace, who deserves a new show) was not long for this world. This summer it returns to burn off its remaining three episodes in the forlorn wasteland of Saturday night television. Comic books may continue the story of this merry band of mystery solvers, but you’ll have limited time to get your fill of narrator Jim Dale and star Kristen Chenoweth’s bursts of song.

3. June 8: Weeds returns (10pm on Showtime), Nurse Jackie premieres (10:30pm on Showtime), My Life on the D-List returns (10pm on Bravo)
The theme tonight isn’t ladies, it’s mouths. As in big ones. Last season on Weeds, Nancy Botwin (Mary Louise Parker) opened up her trap to get a Mexican drug-lord in hot water with the Feds, then used it save herself by telling him she was pregnant with his baby. Um, smart? Weeds is followed Edie Falco’s Nurse Jackie, the least-shocking Showtime premise in years: It’s about a mouthy nurse. The loose format looks to leave plenty of room for seasoned pro Falco, a privilege sadly not afforded to Toni Collette over on The United States of Tara. Also tonight, semifunny attention-whore Kathy Griffin’s reality show returns. Look at her or suffer the consequences.

4. June 16: Hawthorne premieres (9pm on TNT)
Another day, another nurse. Jada Pinkett Smith steps into the orthopedic shoes over on TNT, a network that has gradually become an original-programming powerhouse. Expect to see plenty of ads for season two of Leverage, another solidly fun original from the network, which will premiere July 15, along with the Dylan McDermott vehicle Dark Blue.

5. June 17, Chess in Concert premieres (9pm on PBS)
Somewhere between Phantom of the Opera (the philistine’s musical) and, say, Company (or any other theater nerd’s musical), there’s Chess. The little song and dance about communist-era gamesmanship failed miserably on Broadway, but returned in the spring of 2008 as a concert at Royal Albert Hall in London. A mere year later, the event, helmed by Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal and Josh Groban, comes to PBS.

6. June 24: The Philanthropist premieres (10pm on NBC)
NBC’s night starts off with I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, a massively popular import from the UK, which epitomizes the snake-eating-its-own-tail nature of reality-show stardom. More appealing is what follows, this puzzling drama about a “vigilante philanthropist”; it imagines a rogue billionaire (James Purefoy from Rome) who dashes through war zones to personally deliver his selfless donations. It’s Angelina Jolie in Beyond Borders meets Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider, But sillier, if possible.

7. July 7: 10 Things I Hate About You premieres (8pm on ABC Family), Warehouse 13 premieres (9pm on Syfy)
Pick a number, any number: 10 Things I Hate About You is a spin-off of the Heath Ledger teen flick (itself a reworking of The Taming of the Shrew). Larry Miller returns as the fearful father of two bickering daughters, and the alum of Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries was the highlight of the film anyway. Meanwhile, on the newly christened Syfy, Warehouse 13 does a goofy take on The X-Files, following two Secret Service agents who attempt to guard a facility full of government secrets. Yep, it’s pretty much the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

8. July 19: AFI Tribute to Michael Douglas (9pm on TV Land), The Espys (9pm on ESPN)
The trick to summer television-watching is to live in the moment, sometimes sidestepping complicated, plot-driven drama. Instead, spend the evening switching between two inane, useless tributes—to the man behind Wall Street and the poor, underappreciated sports world. If you time it right between commercials, you can catch both the clips of Romancing the Stone and the inevitable tribute to our new President, hoops star.

9. Aug 20: Project Runway returns (10pm on Lifetime)
At long last, Project Runway will again grace us catty critiques, Tim Gunn’s Dalai Lama–like wisdom and the audacity to create bustiers out of bok choy. Will the switch to Lifetime and Los Angeles rob the show of its bite? Well, at least tanaholic Michael Kors may look more natural in a sunny state. Meanwhile, Mad Men will return for a third season in August, and its delicious fashions make it a good match for Runway—use your TiVo to create a double-header.

10. August 24: Dating Dark finale (10pm on ABC)
It’s the final episode of a show about people who meet, date and even kiss in the pitch dark! Wait, really? Put down the remote and go to the park already.

More in TV