For many of us, May summons two changes in our lives. The first is, it’s Summer! Yeah! I have my shorts and t-shirts at the ready. Secondly, and more importantly, and on the other hand more depressingly, May sparks the time of the year that regular TV ends. We say goodbye to The Big Bang Theory, Glee, Family Guy, The Simpsons, The Office (even without Steve Carrell it hasn’t been that bad), to CSI, we’ll see you all again in September.
So, for us TV-addicted fools, what crop of new and returning TV shows have the networks got planned for us?
It’s safe to say there’s no Entourage. How great was Entourage? That was my “I can’t wait till the summer” TV show. However, it came to an end last year. It wasn’t a great end, but once a show runs its course, it’s time to end it. Will I be able to find a replacement? To try and find the answer to that, I’ve scoured the internet and come across 12 TV shows that will strive for your attention on TV screens, web browsers and mobile devices, and inspire significant conversations across social networks, this summer.
Starting tonight on NBC is the return of America’s Got Talent. With new judge Howard Stern already causing a stir across social networks before an episode has even aired, are we in for a shock or will it just be all hype? Whatever happens, I’m sure it’ll spark social chatter. Get your hashtags at the ready.
Hmm. Who’s in the mood for another reality singing competition TV show? If you’re hands are shooting up in the air, then you’ll be super pleased with ABC‘s latest offering. However, there’s a twist. Duets, premiering on May 24, has it’s star-studded panel—Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles and Robin Thicke—performing with the contestants. The Duets website has a “Discuss Duets” page with Twitter handles and hashtags for fans to chat with one another.
Remember Heroes? Well, Alphas sounds a lot like Heroes. A scripted drama about people with super powers premieres on Syfy this summer. There’s an online and interactive portal, Alpha Powers, allowing fans to take a 10-question assessment to find out if they’re Alphas “material.”
A friend of mine loves Tosh.0. I don’t know what it is, but I’m yet to “get into it.” Maybe this summer I might just do that? Daniel Tosh comes back to Comedy Central on May 29 with his series that pokes fun at viral videos, celebs and pop culture. On the website there’s a “What You’re Saying” page highlighting the best tweets mentioning Tosh .0.
Wow. Here’s a show that will probably go viral in minutes. Dogs in the City on CBS, May 30. It’s an unscripted series, with dog guru Justin Silver, about “doggy dilemmas.” And why do I think it’ll go viral? YouTube is littered with anything about dogs and puppies.
The Real Housewives of New York returns for season 5 (seriously, there’s been 5 seasons of this?) on June 4. As with most C-list celebrities, they somehow find a way to spawn significant buzz on Twitter and across the web-o-sphere. There’s a “Tweet Tracker” on BravoTV.com that displays tweets from about each housewife in real time and lets viewers send tweets too.
Now I know I won’t get many favorable comments for what I’m about to say, but I have to say it. Vampire movies, vampire TV shows, the whole Twilight nonsense, just sucks. It really does. I have absolutely no reason or any interest in watching this kind of twaddle. I don’t. However, for you that do like it, True Blood is back on June 10. Yip-de-do.
Here’s one for your folks. Dallas (I know!) returns June 13 on TNT and apparently it’s gaining a lot of “buzz” online. The show’s Facebook page, told in the voice of character J.R. Ewing, includes entries dating back to 1978.
June 28. FX. Anger Management. Charlie Sheen. With his 7.2 million followers on Twitter, I’m sure they’ll create enough buzz about this show without any promotion.
Here’s Phoebe from Friends in yet another “will it or won’t it” be a hit TV show. Web Therapy, a televised comedy starting July 2, began life as an Internet series before Showtime picked it up. A feature on the website lets fans ask Fiona Wallice (the show’s protagonist played by Lisa Kudrow) a question and they get an answer “straight from her lips.”
Idiots locked in a house with the population of the country watching? Yep, Big Brother is back for it’s 14th season on CBS. Premiering July 12 we’ll be hooked into what moments of craziness the house can offer us and watch whilst it spreads online like wildfire.
Here’s a show that I’ve been meaning to get into for years. In fact my friends have even told me I need to get into but I’ve just never had the time. Starting sometime in July will be the final season of Breaking Bad on AMC. The website offers a whole host of interactive features including a graphic novel game, case files and a criminal aptitude test.
Will Breaking Bad be my Entourage replacement? I suppose I could just wait for the season finale and then watch the entire series back to back throughout the summer, then I won’t get frustrated having to wait a week till the next episode. Hey, that’s what I did with The Wire.
What shows will you be watching this summer? Did I miss any of your favorites?
