Now that Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, has passed, the networks are offering a slew of new shows for better or worse. Many of these are returning shows, some are new shows getting a short try out and some we will never see again. One of TV’s most popular shows, Dancing with the Stars, began as a six week trial during the summer of 2005, so you never know what you’re going to get. Still, some of these sound a bit “out there.”
Some of the new summer shows have already started, but most offer “encore” performances or episodes can be found online or through your cable service. Due to the size of show offerings, this story has been broken up into three segments and broken up into “Optimistic Choices” and “Pessimistic Choices.” Here is part three:
Optimistic Choices:
Unforgettable
Status: Returning Show
Network: CBS
Debuts: June 29, 10:00 p.m.
Premise: Unforgettable’s third season continues with NYPD detective, Carrie Wells, who cannot forget anything. Ever. Together with her former boyfriend, detective Al Burns, the two solve murder cases in Queens. The show stars Poppy Montgomery, Dallas Roberts, Dylan Walsh and Jane Curtain.
Wipeout
Status: Returning Show
Network: ABC
Debuts: June 22, 8:00 p.m.
Premise: The family-friendly obstacle course game show returns with more “big balls” and silly fun. The season features two new courses with obstacles with names like Fail Boxes, Tropic Blunder, Octopushy, Miami Pound Machine, Wipeout City and Sugar Smacks. Each week 24 new contestants will risk their dignity for a chance to win $50,000. Hosted again by John Henson, John Anderson and Jill Wagner.
Pessimistic choices for June
Big Brother
Status: Returning Show
Network: CBS
Debuts: June 25, 8:00 p.m.
Premise: For some it is the ultimate guilty pleasure. For others, it has Seinfeld beat as a show about nothing. This summer marks the 16th season of Big Brother which is about watching a group of people living and talking about each other in the same house 24 hours a day via 53 cameras and 97 microphones. Each week, someone will be voted out and the last one there will receive $500,000. Updates will be featured on Sundays, Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the summer. Sigh.
It Takes a Church
Status: New Show
Network: GSN (Game Show Network)
Debuts: June 5, 9 p.m.
Premise: First there was The Bachelor, then The Bachelorette and now comes a Christian dating show, It Takes a Church. This one is a head scratcher. In partnership with the Christian dating service, ChristianMingle, one unsuspecting single will be surprised each week to find that their own church and pastor have set them up on a course to find true love. It will be hosted by Christian singer, Natalie Grant.
Mistresses
Status: Returning Show
Network: ABC
Debuts: June 2, 10:00 p.m.
Premise: There must be something more to this show than what they show in the previews, but I’m not seeing it. Based on hit show of the same name in the UK, Mistresses is about four friends with loose morals “each on her own path to self-discovery.” (Is that what we’re calling it these days?) The official description gets better: “These four friends find support and guidance with each other as they brave their turbulent journeys and life’s storms of excitement, secrecy and betrayal, all the while bound by the complex relationships they’ve created.” Nope. Nothing redeeming here.
The Quest
Status: New Show
Network: ABC
Debuts: July 31
Premise: Not much information is given about this part reality show/part fantasy except that is headed by the Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings and the makers of The Amazing Race. In this game show, 12 contestants will be live in a “land of magic and malevolence where mythical creatures lurk in the woods.” Sounds similar to last year’s Whodunnit?.
Reckless
Status: New Show
Network: CBS
Debuts: June 29, 9:00 p.m.
Premise: Described as a sultry legal drama that is set in Charleston, SC, the show looks more like an excuse to show good-looking people getting it on with a small plotline thrown in for good measure. The “story” is about an attorney and a litigator, who have the hots for each other, to pretend that they don’t so that they can remain professional. Yeah, right. Oh, and the case that the two are battling against is a police sex scandal that “threatens to tear the city apart.”
Rising Star
Status: New Show
Network: ABC
Debuts: June 22, 9:00 p.m.
Premise: The network would have you believe that the show is something different than it really is – another singing completion. The “twist” is that “the audience will have the final say in real time” by voting through a special app eliminating the need for a follow-up “results show.” The show stars Josh Groban as host and features Brad Paisley, Kesha and Ludacris as the shows experts. Raise your hand if you are looking for yet another singing competition show. Yeah. That’s what I thought.
Under the Dome
Status: Returning Show
Network: CBS
Debuts: June 30, 10:00 p.m.
Premise: This show, based on the Stephen King book of the same name, had me going for a while last summer, but the longer the show went on, the more crazy the show got. Ultimately a fatalistic story, this next season looks even crazier and a higher death toll. Still, I might be drawn under the dome once again. The basis for the story is a small town that is covered by a giant clear dome that separates them from the rest of world.
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