This summer's TV lineup features a full roster of intriguing new shows, but as you're clicking your remote in search of the next big hit, don't forget to keep these old reliables on your watch list.
Whether it's an award-wining drama back for a swan song season (The Closer), slick shows just hitting their strides (Boss, Suits) or an outrageous comedy that'll have you LOL-ing through the summer heat (Louie), these veteran shows offer great grownup entertainment.
From left, Gabriel Macht as Harvey Specter, Gina Torres as Jessica Pearson, David Costabile as Daniel Hardman in USA Network's Suits. — Photo by Christos Kalohoridis/USA Network
Suits
USA, Thursdays at 10 p.m. EST, returned June 14
Last year's best summer surprise returns for another season of law firm drama. Imagine Law and Order recast for a glossy photo shoot for Esquire or GQ, and you get an idea of Suits' hip, fashionable vibe. The show was clearly imagined as a showcase for flashy attorney Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht), but during Season 1 Patrick J. Adams, as young-gun associate Mike Ross, emerged as its star. Adams nabbed a surprise Screen Actors Guild nomination as Ross, the Specter protégé with a photographic memory but — whoops! — no law degree (or college degree, for that matter.) Adams and Macht are great together as they rep clients and conspire to conceal the secret. Rick Hoffman is deliciously hateable as their sleazy in-house foil, Louis Litt, and estimable character actor David Costabile (Damages, Breaking Bad), looks to have a juicy Season 2 role as a prodigal boss returned.
Kyra Sedgwick stars in an episode of The Closer. — Photo by Karen Neal/TNT
The Closer
TNT, Mondays at 9 p.m. EST, returns July 9
Kyra Sedgwick takes a final turn as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson as the long-running investigative drama finishes off its seven-season run with a sextet of final shows. The Closer has never really sparked the fervent pop culture conversation of some of its cable network competition but it will end its run as one of the most popular non-network dramas of all time. It was also one of the first summer-launched shows to break through as a critical and ratings hit — to say nothing of the career boost it gave Sedgwick, who has picked up Best Actress honors from the Emmys and Golden Globes. Major Crimes, a spinoff featuring many of the same characters, premieres in August, just after this show's curtain has, ahem, closed.
From left, Matt Passmore, Michelle Hurd and Carlos Gomez star in The Glades. — Photo by Glenn Watson/A&E/Everett Collection
The Glades
A&E, Sundays at 9 p.m. EST, returned June 3
If you like Castle, CSI and NCIS, check out this hidden gem, which could be the best show you've probably never heard of. The series follows Detective Jim Longworth (Matt Passmore), a former Chicago cop now tracking down bad guys and solving crimes in the swamplands of the Florida Everglades. The plots are the opposite of the show's oppressive Everglades climate - cool and breezy, and wrapped neatly up at the end of each episode. This summer's run marks Season 3, but don't worry about dropping in late. It's easy to catch up — and if you get hooked, seasons 1 and 2 are available via Netflix and iTunes.
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