Monday, June 11, 2012

My Summer TV!

By Evelyn David

Remember when summer television was a vast wasteland of reruns! Not so much anymore.

With all the cable stations available, the competition for viewers is tough and in order to compete many networks now offer shows that air new material in the summer months.

Some of my favorites have returned this month, more next month.

Rizzoli and Isles is airing new episodes. Often it's just too cute for words with the junior high "girl buddy" theme, but out of loyalty to the brilliant novels by Tess Gerritsen, I watch. Lorraine Bracco is excellent as "Jane's" mother. She's probably my favorite character on the tv series.

Falling Skies is returning for its second season. Aliens have taken over the world and Dr. John Carter from ER fame, okay Noah Wyle is famous for other roles now, but he'll always be Dr. Carter to me – anyway he's leading a group of survivors who are fighting back. Special effects are well done and the plot's interesting. Last season ended with Dr. Carter about to be sucked up into an alien spacecraft.

For light fun, I enjoy USA Network's Royal Pains. Nothing like spending the summer in The Hamptons seeing how the other half vacations. Great scenery and likeable characters.

If the temperatures get too hot, there's always Ice Road Truckers. I lived in Alaska for a couple of years and I enjoy the show for the scenery. I also liked watching trucker "Lisa" compete with the guys, but for some reason she's not back this season. The series probably won't have the same appeal for me.


My favorite, The Closer, is back in July with its final six episodes. The star, Kyra Sedgwick, has decided she'd "closed" enough cases and is headed back to New York and husband Kevin Bacon. Not sure how the writers are going to end "Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson's" employment with the LAPD. My bets are either with a pregnancy or a long overdue return to visit her parents in Atlanta. The rest of "Chief Johnson's" squad will immediately, as in the hour following the final Closer episode, become the ensemble cast of the new spinoff series, Major Crimes. The incomparable actress, Mary McDonnell, "Stands With a Fist" from Dancing with Wolves and more recently of Battlestar Galactica fame, headlines the new show. I think it should be a great addition to TNT's network, if Mary's character, "Captain Sharon Raydor," can manage to get out from under the shadow of "Chief Johnson." Only time will tell.

Anyone planning to watch the new Dallas? I will if only for the nostalgia factor. When I was in high school the marching band played the theme from Dallas at all our football games. "Who shot J.R.?" was the first cliffhanger I remember my generation talking about for an entire summer.

I'd write more but I this is shark week on the Syfy channel. Jersey Shore just got attacked by red-eyed albino sharks and I've got to see how the movie ends.

What are you watching this summer?

Rhonda
aka The Southern Half of Evelyn David

Zoned for Murder - Kindle (Exclusive at Amazon this month)











Brianna Sullivan Mysteries - e-book series
I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah- Kindle (Exclusive at Amazon this month)
The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Undying Love in Lottawatah- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
A Haunting in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Lottawatah Twister - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Missing in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Good Grief in Lottawatah - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

The Ghosts of Lottawatah - trade paperback collection of the Brianna e-books
Book 1 - I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries (includes the first four Brianna e-books)
Book 2 - A Haunting in Lottawatah (includes the 5th, 6th, and 7th Brianna e-books)




Sullivan Investigations Mystery
Murder Off the Books Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback
Murder Takes the Cake Kindle - Nook - Smashwords - Trade Paperback
Riley Come Home (short story)- Kindle - Nook - Smashwords
Moonlighting at the Mall (short story) - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

Romances
Love Lessons - Kindle - Nook - Smashwords

5 comments:

  1. My favorite is "The Closer" too. I also like "Falling Skies". "Suits" is also a light show on USA that's good. And Showtime is in its second season of "The Borgias". Luckily there are enough new shows in the summer to keep TV interesting but not so much that I won't have time to write. :)

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  2. You missed my favorite - Burn Notice. Got to love Fiona. Her response to conflict: "Can't we just shoot them?" (And she means it.)

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  3. I'm waiting for Burn Notice and I can't wait to see how they get her out of jail.

    Rizzoli & Isles, Fairly Legal, The Closer and I have no desire to watch the new Dallas.

    pps..I watched Jersey Shore Shark Attack and all I did was shake my head.

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  4. At Dru Ann's suggestion I watched Jersey Shore Shark Attack - it was so bad it was funny. Kept trying to figure out who the policeman/father was. He looked familiar. I didn't see Burn Notice last couple of seasons so I've missed everything from where Michael started working for the CIA again to now. I don't have Showtime or HBO. Wish I did. Would love to see the new political series with ...Bill Pullman??? Can't believe I'm going to admit this but I watched several episodes of Lizzard Lick Towing yesterday. Talk about a train wreck that you can't stop watching. Beware - that repo crew will pull you in to their crazy world.

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  5. I hate to admit it but I'll probably watch Big Brother. I also watch a lot of the USA and TNT shows when they are on earlier like on a Saturday. Same with the new Longmire series--which I'm enjoying.

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