Summer's Hottest Shows

I have to admit I am not a sports TV fan. But a fluffy soap, a hot reality contest, and a quality period drama will make temperatures soar this TV summer... At least as Prince Modesty is concerned. Now if only CBS execs promise to keep their trigger-happy fingers away from from the axe, I'll be a happy little coach potato.


SWINGTOWN,
Thursdays at 10, CBS,
Premieres June 5

I have only watched the pilot episode of CBS' soundtrack-heavy sexfest about the recoupling couples of 1970s suburbia, but just seeing Melrose Place's signature stud Grant Show, who is of course sporting a porn mustache here, lure his sexy neighbor Jack Davenport and his swing-curious wife into a hot session of unabashed shenanigans to Gary Wright's "Dream Weaver," was enough to fall in love with the show.

No, "Swingtown" will never fly in puritan America, so no hopes for a 2nd season, but at least I'll have something to look forward to on Thursday nights during the summer drought, that is unless CBS takes the show off the air before it concludes its 13-episode run due to low ratings or conservative backlash. Then again, the networks don't really give into conservative backlash these days, do they? Hallelujah!



SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE,
Wednesdays and Thursdays on FOX,
Already Premiered

Every spring around the time "American Idol" does their overstuffed charity show I realize how quickly bored I have become with the current cycle of the mega-popular but declining singing competition and lose interest in the season climax. And then the most amazing thing happens - a fresh season of "So You Think You Can Dance" begins and I'm glued to FOX Wednesdays all over again.

There is just something incredibly appealing about watching these sexy young people dance their hearts off to coolest tunes on the planet and watching the crazy Mary Murphy crack up and scream and growl. And for every loser of Sex's caliber, there is an amazing prodigy, such as the out-of-this-world L.A. popper Robert Muraine, who closed this year's season premiere.


MAD MEN,
Sundays at 9pm on AMC,
Premieres July 27

Have you already discovered what a great gem this Golden Globe-winning drama about chain-smoking heavy-drinking sex-crazed ad men of 1960s New York is? The AMC series' supposedly accurate portrayal of the era in question (I was born in the 70s, so I can't really tell), along with profound character development is a triumph of great writing, acting and set designing talent behind the show.

A new season promises a small leap into a not so distant future. Creator Matthew Weiner declined to reveal to USA Today how big of a leap it will be, but he did confirm it won't be long enough for the characters to escape their pasts. "The world has changed a little bit... but people don't change," he explained. All season 1 characters will be back.

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