JUNE
Thursday, June 4 – a bevy of amazing choices!
BURN NOTICE (USA), 9pm et/pt
It’s always such an excruciating wait, the time between a show’s finale and its next season’s premiere. But now, Burn Notice fans won’t have to wait. That’s because the hit USA action drama, starring Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen, is returning only two days after the season 3 finale! In the 4th season, after a dramatic face off with a helicopter, Michael emerges from the water free from interference by the organization that burned him. But he’s no longer under their protection, and is being investigated by the police. He gets out of prison with help from an old friend who has a job for him- extraditing a thug who’s displacing landowners in a Latin American country. (Season 4 premiere)
ROYAL PAINS (USA), 10pm et/pt
When up-and-coming New York doctor Hank Lawson loses everything fighting for the life of a patient, he escapes to the Hamptons with his younger brother, Evan. After making a dramatic medical rescue at a party, Hank inadvertently finds himself the Hamptons' hottest doctor. Now, with the help of Evan and an ambitious physician’s assistant, Hank is once again helping those in need and reinventing himself as the Hamptons' hottest doctor-on-demand. (75-minute series premiere)
TOSH.0 (Comedy Central), 10pm et/pt
Blogs, vlogs, tweets and pokes have taken over everyone's lives and it’s high time someone takes these new technologies to task. Nothing on the Internet is safe in the hands of comedian Daniel Tosh in the new series, Tosh.0. The series will go deep into the Web, spinning commentary about blogs and vlogs both popular and obscure, tweets and pokes, popular sites and new technologies. The series will also feature viral clips of the week, and premiere its own original videos created by and starring well-known actors and comedians. (Series premiere)
Monday, June 8
THE CLOSER (TNT), 11pm et/pt
Atlanta police detective Brenda Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick) moves to Los Angeles, where she heads up a squad that handles sensitive, high-profile homicide cases. Although she clashes with some of her colleagues, her skills as a CIA-trained interrogator prove invaluable in obtaining confessions from suspects. (5th season premiere)
WEEDS (Showtime), 9pm et/pt
The uproarious and wildly popular show returns! Leaving the ashes of Agrestic behind her, Nancy Botwin relocates her thriving pot business to a beachside community near the Mexican border. There, she is joined by “associates'' Doug and Andy, who earn a tidy living sneaking Mexican immigrants across the border. (5th season premiere)
NURSE JACKIE (Showtime), 9:30pm et/pt
Emergency room nurse Jackie O’Hurley relies on Vicodin and Adderall to get her through high-stress shifts at a New York hospital, where she isn’t above bending the rules to keep things running smoothly in the face of indifferent doctors, penny-pinching bean counters and miles of bureaucratic red tape. (Series premiere)
Wednesday, June 10
TOP CHEF MASTERS (Bravo), 9pm et/pt
Using the basic format of Bravo's Top Chef, this competition series challenges world-class chefs in a series of eliminations, with the winners receiving a cash donation to the charity of their choice. The first six episodes pit four chefs against one another to determine the six finalists, who then battle it out over the next five episodes until one Top Chef Master is left standing in the kitchen. The charity chosen by the winning chef gets a $100,000 gift. (Series premiere)
Thursday, June 11
RAISING SEXTUPLETS (WE), 10pm et/pt
This series takes us behind the scenes into the controlled chaos of daily life at the house of the Masche sextuplets and their parents, Jenny and Bryan. Jenny and Bryan were the typical American couple before their babies were born: they both worked full-time, but still managed to make time for their individual interests as well as for each other. After their sextuplets were born though, their lives were turned upside down as they have had to learn how to take care of their suddenly large family. Raising Sextuplets is a new series that has spun out of a successful WE TV special. The six episodes follow Jenny, Bryan and the babies over the course of half a year, starting when the sextuplets are 16 months old. (Series premiere)
Sunday, June 17
TRUE BLOOD (HBO), 9pm et/pt
Smalltown Louisiana waitress Sookie Stackhouse already is viewed as an oddball by her friends and neighbors, since she can read the minds of those around her. She doesn't exactly help her reputation, though, when she falls for handsome newcomer Bill Compton, a 173-year-old vampire who has “come out of the coffin” along with many of his undead comrades now that a new synthetic blood has made it possible for vampires to survive without preying on humans. Still, the conservative locals aren’t wild about mortal-vampire liaisons, especially Sookie’s boss, Sam Merlotte, who carries a torch for her. Six Feet Under creator Alan Ball is behind this new series adaptation of the best-selling novels by Charlaine Harris. (2nd season premiere
WEDDING DAY (TNT), 8pm et/pt
Every couple dreams of having the perfect wedding. For many, it’s the most important and emotional day of their lives. But for some, insurmountable obstacles create barriers to making their dream day a reality. Wedding Day is here to prove that a girl doesn’t have to be rich to have a wedding fit for a princess. In this uplifting series, deserving couples from all over the United States will get a helping hand to ensure the most important day of their lives is also the most magical. Each week, celebrity event planner and food expert Alan Dunn (For Better or Worse) and celebrity wedding planner Diann Valentine (author of Weddings Valentine Style) host as family, friends and community come together to create a dream wedding. Along the way, viewers will learn each couple’s compelling story, from their first date to the big day. (Series premiere)
HAWTHORNE (TNT), 9pm et/pt
Jada Pinkett Smith (The Women, The Matrix trilogy) is the latest talented actress to join TNT’s line-up of strong, complex female characters, following in the footsteps of Kyra Sedgwick on The Closer and Holly Hunter of Saving Grace. This summer, Pinkett Smith executive-produces and stars in HawthoRNe, a character-driven drama series about a nurse who is a true everyday hero. Pinkett Smith plays Christina Hawthorne, a compassionate and headstrong Chief Nursing Officer heading up a group of dedicated nurses at Richmond Trinity Hospital who spend long days and nights on the hospital’s front lines. Hawthorne is the kind of nurse you want on your side when you or someone you love is in the hospital. She is the kind of nurse who fights for her patients and doesn’t let them slip through the cracks. When necessary, she takes on doctors and administrators who are overworked, distracted or just unable to see the human being behind the hospital chart. (Series premiere)
JUST FOR LAUGHS (ABC), 8:30pm et/pt
The first made-for-Canada TV series to be broadcast on a major U.S. network, Just for Laughs incorporates practical jokes, hidden cameras and the spontaneous reaction of unsuspecting “victims” to cut across cultural boundaries of humor. The series is seen in 125 countries around the world, including England, France, Italy, Germany, and Canada, among others. (Series premiere)
Monday, June 22
MAKE IT OR BREAK IT (ABC Family), 9pm et/pt
Emily Kmetko’s dreams of becoming an Olympic gymnast inch closer to reality when she receives a scholarship to The Rock training center in Colorado. But her natural abilities and lower economic status don’t immediately make her any friends among the center’s elite, who include top gymnast Payson Keeler, beautiful Kaylie Cruz, resident hottie Carter Anderson and ultracompetitive Lauren Tanner, who would like nothing more than to see Emily head back to where she came from. Amidst the backstabbing and bonding, they’re teammates in name only, all in pursuit of what every gymnast competes for: a perfect routine. (Series premiere)
Tuesday, June 23
Loosely based on the ABC classic Wide World of Sports, this show pairs eight celebrities with professional athletes from a variety of different sports for sporting events and challenges, including swimming, biking, running, kayaking and more. The teams are tested on speed, stamina, strength and strategy as well. Each week one team of athletes is eliminated a winning pair is left. The show is shot on location in the Bahamas. (Series premiere)
Sunday, June 28
HUNG (HBO), 10pm et/pt
Once athletic, popular, and a success story waiting to happen, Ray Drecker’s life has turned upside down: He’s an underpaid, unappreciated middle-age high-school teacher and basketball coach whose wife of 20 years just left him, and his twin children soon follow mom out the door after a fire damages his rundown Detroit home. Grasping at straws, Ray attends a self-help class, where he learns the key to financial success is identifying a personal “winning tool,” advice Ray takes quite literally in the hopes of turning his fortunes around in a big way. (Series premiere)
Monday, June 29
DANCE YOUR ASS OFF (Oxygen), 10pm et/pt
Twelve finalists, nearly 3,000 lbs, one goal—to go from an eating machine to a dancing machine in Oxygen’s new dance/weight loss competition series Dance Your Ass Off, hosted by TONY Award-winning actress Marissa Jaret Winokur. Bringing dance and diet together, Dance Your Ass Off features talented, full-figured contestants who will have to lose to win! (Series premiere)
A station by any other name is still a station, right? Well, the always slightly off Sci Fi Channel has decided it’s time for a new look and changed its name to SyFy. So the new SyFy will launch its new look with a new show called Warehouse 13. Described as part The Librarian, part X-Files, with a splash of Ghosthunters and Eureka thrown in, it stars Joanne Kelly and Eddie McClintock as two secret service agents protecting and working in and for, you guessed it, a Warehouse in South Dakota.
Sunday, July 26
Jeff Corwin learns how exotic food and customs have helped define the culture of Thailand. (Series premiere)
Tuesday, July 28
More to Love (FOX) 9:00 pm et/pt
Former full-figured model Emme hosts this new twist on a reality dating show. Eligible bachelor Luke Conley, a 26-year-old former football player, romances a group of confident plus-size women. He's looking for a woman who is intelligent, passionate and comfortable in her own skin. He'll have 20 to choose from, and as the competition continues and women are eliminated, he must decide whether one of the voluptuous ladies can truly win his heart. (Series premiere)
Thursday, July 30
Five women from Atlanta's elite class—some married to power players, others sassy single moms—balance their family demands with a hectic social calendar. (Second season premiere)
Friday, July 31
Actor and Vietnam veteran R. Lee Ermey guides viewers through the evolution of the deadliest battlefield weapons, with 3-D graphics detailing the improvements, changes in technology and the thought process behind each weapon. Also, experts discuss the engineering and history involved, and high-speed photography shows how these firearms work and what really happens at the point of impact. (Series premiere)
AUGUST
Saturday, August 1
It’s Me or the Dog (Animal Planet) 9:30 am et/pt
A professional dog trainer visits homes with troublesome dogs and presents advice to the stressed-out residents whose canine companion(s) has taken over their household. (4th season premiere)
Sunday, August 2
Defying Gravity (ABC) 9:00 pm et/pt
An international crew of eight astronauts—four men and four women—sets off on a mysterious, six-year mission covering billions of miles aboard a ship called the Antares. Inspired by the fictional docudrama Space Odyssey: Voyage to the Planets, the show tells the story of both the astronauts as they explore Venus and the other planets in the solar system, and their supportive and dedicated ground crew. Episodes alternate between the present, on the current mission, and flashbacks to earlier years when the final eight were still in the grueling selection and training process. (Series premiere)
Megan Wants a Millionaire (VH1) 9:00 pm et/pt
Celebreality vixen Megan Hauserman is looking for love and money. She missed out on the former in the second Rock of Love With Bret Michaels and was denied the $250,000 prize in I Love Money. Will the third time take the cake? Here Megan puts 18 single millionaires to the test in her quest to become the ultimate trophy wife, with the challenges aimed at weeding out the men who refuse to shell out the dough for the increasingly expensive dates, until Megan finds the right man with the right bank account. (Series premiere)
Monday, August 3
With roadside diners, vintage drive-ins and out-of-the-way “dives” enjoying a resurgence of hipness among foodies, host Guy Fieri travels America in search of some of the best “greasy spoon” eateries in the country. (7th season premiere)
Wednesday, August 5
Joan Rivers knows a thing or two about indulgence, and that, combined with her well-known willingness to poke fun at anyone who crosses her path, makes her the ideal tour guide for this series. She scours the country in search of people who became wealthy in interesting ways, and if her pestering doesn't get her shown the door before she even enters it, she'll get a firsthand look at their lavish lifestyle and how these moneybags spend their cash. (Series premiere)
Man v. Food (Travel) 7:00 pm et/pt
Host Adam Richman travels America to sample some iconic regional dishes and take on some daunting food challenges, such as attacking a 13-pound pizza in Atlanta, tucking into the Sasquatch Burger in Memphis, Tenn., and the aptly named Atomic Hot Wings platter in Pittsburgh. (2nd season premiere)
With the help of family and friends, hidden cameras are turned on one unsuspecting person to chronicle an extraordinary day that just keeps on escalating. The victim not only gets ridiculed—he or she walks away with a grand prize, ranging from a dream vacation to a down payment for a new home. (Series premiere)
Thursday, August 6
Skins (BBC) 9:00 pm et/pt
A group of lively teenagers in Bristol, England, includes golden boy Tony, who loves to manipulate his peers; his put-upon best mate, Sid, who carries a torch for Tony's sometime girlfriend, Michelle; Cassie, a beautiful anorexic with a crush on Sid; Chris, the class clown who is having an affair with his psychology teacher, Angie; Jal, a gifted classical clarinetist; Anwar, a Muslim teen; Maxxie, a gay artist; and Effy, Tony's little sister. (Series premiere)
Friday, August 7
Monk (USA) 9:00 pm et/pt
After the unsolved murder of his wife, Adrian Monk develops obsessive compulsive disorder - a terrifying and irrational fear of germs and contamination. His condition costs him his job as a prominent homicide detective on the San Francisco police force, but he continues to solve crimes with the help of his assistant and his former boss. (8th season premiere)
Psych (USA) 10:00 pm et/pt
Shawn Spencer happens to possess some uncanny powers of observation thanks to his then-police officer father, Henry, who taught his son to remember even the smallest details of his surroundings. When Shawn is accused of committing a crime that he actually solved, he convinces the cops that he's a psychic—and with the reluctant help of best friend Gus, Shawn starts solving cases for a skeptical but increasingly impressed police force. (4th season premiere)
