SUMMERTIME VIEWING 2012, PART 1 — What Might Be Worth Your TV Viewing Time This Summer

Stewart here…

Usually I take the summertime to either catch up on TV or revisit some old favorites, and this summer, I may have a bit less time to do so. Besides the big slew of cable shows coming back over the next few months, like Burn Notice (anything with Bruce Campbell tends to get a free pass with me), Leverage (not a show I kept up with every season, but will try to if I can this summer), Femme Fatales (and no, I didn’t mention it here just because one of the writers on this website was on the show, OK?), and True Blood (a show that is losing its bite -rim shot- with me). So, I thought I’d spotlight a few new and old shows worth checking out for you geeks out there, if only because some of the names involved might pique your interest:

The Newsroom (HBO/June): Aaron Sorkin is a good writer, as any person who has seen the first four seasons of The West Wing will attest to. Saying that, Sorkin on a less restrictive network like HBO should be worth checking out, as he heads back into the realm of the behind the scenes of television networks, this time with Jeff Daniels as a fed-up cable news anchorman. Think Network without the satirical lunacy, which may be a good or bad thing, depending how you see it.

Longmire (A&E/June): Yes, I know what you’re thinking: what nerdiness is there in a series about a grizzled lawman keeping the peace in Wyoming? Well, you get among the cast: Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica), Cassidy Freeman (Tess Mercer from Smallville), and Lou Diamond Phillips (Chavez from Young Guns) for instance. Plus, any cop show that can get away from big cities like New York and L.A. is something worth noting on my radar.

Breaking Bad (AMC/July): Well, anyone reading my A&V Stimuli blog knows my love of this show. And with this last season (achingly split into 8 episode chunks, one this summer, the last being next year), it’ll be interesting to see where this final run takes chemistry genius/meth maker Walter White and those in his circle to. I’m sure it’ll be nerve wrenching to watch.

But, what are the shows you’re looking forward to coming back this summer? Any you think I missed worth checking out? Any I mention doesn’t interest you? Comment below…