Summer Lovin’ – What’s on TV This Summer (Part 1)

While summer doesn’t technically begin until June 20, the summer TV season will actually start in full force next week, bringing TV viewers plenty of programming to enjoy. Where once summer was a wasteland of repeats and burn-off episodes of TV shows that the networks just didn’t deem “good enough” for airing during the fall TV season, networks now provide great programming all year long. And thankfully that “habit” has been ongoing for several years.

This year there seems to be even more programming for viewers to enjoy and as you can find here at NiceGirlsTV we have provided a list of summer TV shows that we’ll be following closely.

What follows are those show and many more that will air this summer as well as made-for-TV movies that can be enjoyed over the next couple of months. Since there is so much to pick from (excluding comedies and reality shows, sorry, I just don’t like those), I will cover the first half of summer this week and the second half of summer next week.

Throughout the summer, the cable networks will be bringing back what can only be described as a “boatload” of popular shows as well as introducing a number of new dramas. First, let’s take a look at the returning shows for June and the first part of July:

Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime), The Glades (A&E) and Teen Wolf (MTV) will be back on June 3.

Rizzoli & Isles and Franklin & Bash (TNT) and Pretty Little Liars and Jane By Design (ABC Family) will be back on June 5.

Royal Pains and Necessary Roughness (USA Network) will be back on June 6.

True Blood (HBO) will be back on June 10.

The Secret Life of the American Teenager (ABC Family) will be back on June 11.

Burn Notice and Suits (USA Network) will both be back on June 14.

Falling Skies (TNT) will be back for a new season on June 17.

Army Wives (Lifetime) will be back for the rest of its current season on June 24.

The Closer (TNT) will be back for its final season on July 9.

White Collar and Covert Affairs (USA Network) are back on July 10.

Damages (DirecTV) will be back for its final season on July 11.

Leverage (TNT) and Breaking Bad (AMC) will both be back on July 15.

Then, there are the new dramas that will debut in June and the first part of July, including:

Longmire (A&E), which is about a widowed sheriff who becomes reinvigorated about his job thanks to the help of a new deputy and with encouragement from his daughter, debuts on June 3.

Saving Hope (NBC) focuses on the surgeons at Hope-Zion Hospital in Toronto where the Chief of Surgery ends up in a coma, walking the halls of the hospital, while his fiancé and fellow surgeon works to save him. It will debut on June 7.

Bunheads (ABC Family) is about a former Vegas showgirl who marries, moves to a sleepy coastal town and takes on a role at her new mother-in-law’s dance school and debuts on June 11.

Dallas (TNT), the reboot of the 1980’s soap opera, focuses on the offspring of the Ewing dynasty as they clash over Southfork. It will debut on June 13.

Inside Men (BBC America), part of the cabler’s “Dramaville” series of programs, will focus on three employees of a security depot who plan a heist and it will debut June 20.

The Newsroom (HBO) takes a behind-the-scenes look at the people who make a nightly cable-news program. It will debut on June 24.

XIII (Reelz Channel), based on the graphic novel, focuses on a man’s quest to uncover the truth about his identity while trying to stop a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of the U.S. government and will debut June 29.

Perception (TNT) will focus Dr. Daniel Pierce, a talented but eccentric neuroscientist who is enlisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to assist in solving some of its most complex cases and it will debut on July 9.

Political Animals (USA Network) is a six-episode mini-series that will debut on July 15 and focuses on a former First Lady and current Secretary of State who finds herself recently divorced and must deal with State Department issues while trying to keep her family together.

Then there are the made-for-TV movies that will debut in June and the first part of July, including:

Hannah’s Law (Hallmark Movie Channel) about a frontier town fueled by crime and corruption that debut on June 9.

Thorne: Sleepyhead (Encore) finds Detective Inspector Tom Thorne investigating a series of unusual attacks on young women. It will debut on June 12.

Thorne: Scaredy Cat (Encore) has Inspector Thorne on the hunt for two serial killers. It will debut on June 13.

Let It Shine (Disney) focuses on an aspiring rap artist, who has to convince his minister father that rap music isn’t “devil’s music”, while trying to win over his childhood crush. The film will debut on June 15.

Operation Cupcake (Hallmark Channel) is about an Army Colonel who ends up helping his soon-to-be-ex-wife run a quaint cupcake shop that will debut on June 16.

Blue Lagoon: The Awakening (Lifetime) focuses on high school students Emma and Dean who end up stranded on a deserted island after a class to Trinidad goes awry. It will debut on June 16.

Wallander: An Event in Autumn (PBS) will debut on July 1 as part of Masterpiece Mystery about a disturbed young woman falls from a ferry.

Puppy Love (Hallmark Channel) is about single mom Megan Nolan, who agrees to get a shelter dog for her 10-year-old daughter, but the dog turns out to belong to a baseball player. Will this shelter dog bring two people together? The film will debut on July 8.

Wallander: The Dogs of Riga (PBS) is also part of Masterpiece Mystery and will focus on murdered drug-runners from Latvia who turn up in a boat in Swedish waters. It will also debut on July 8.

How To Fall in Love (Hallmark Channel) will debut on July 14 and focuses on Harold White, who hires a dating coach to help him shed his wallflower approach to romance.

Wallander: Before the Frost (PBS), another film from Masterpiece Mystery focuses on a religious cult bent on violent retribution that will debut on July 15.

Please come back next week for coverage on what to expect from the networks for the latter part of July and August.  And, mark your calendars for all of these great summer shows and movies.