School is almost over, and summer is just around the corner. What’s a better way to spend the bright, hot summer days than in the air-conditioned haven of your living room, binge watching the brand new summer television lineup? To get you started, here’s a short & sweet list of both new and old shows premiering this summer.
Penny Dreadful, Season 2
May 3, Showtime
The dark and daring show that premiered last year on Showtime is returning with a deeper look into the gothic, monster-ridden world it set up nicely in season 1. The story will continue with Vanessa Ives’ (Eva Green) going head to head with the leader of a Lucifer-loving cult (Helen McCrory), Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett) grappling with his furry, flesh-eating alter-ego, and Doctor Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway) and his Creature (Rory Kinnear) dealing with their newly created “bride” (Billie Piper). This season will hopefully have just as many twist, turns and shockingly disturbing moments as the first.
Grace and Frankie, Season 1
May 8, Netflix
Netflix has been on a roll recently, and the next new show coming up on the docket is a comedy featuring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin as Grace and Frankie, two women who have just found out their husbands are leaving them…for each other. Their husbands, longtime business partners, suddenly confess their love for each other, and the two women have to deal with all the things that come after that confession. The show may struggle balancing the deeper and darker moments of the women’s anger and betrayal with the comedy, but with such a strong cast and a plot full of off-the-wall possibilities, this show is definitely one to look out for.
Orange is the New Black, Season 3
June 12, Netflix
Possibly one of the most anticipated shows on this list, it’s almost a formality at this point to suggest you check this one out. If you’ve been off on a different planet for the past two years and don’t know, OitNB is about a diverse group of women who all happen to be incarcerated in a federal penitentiary. Already renewed for a fourth season, the third season will feature all the old favorites, with Lea DeLauria (Big Boo) and Laura Prepon (Alex Vause) being upped to series regulars, as well as some new characters.
True Detective, Season 2
June 21, HBO
Coming off it’s much hyped first season, True Detective returns for a second, with another stand-alone, season. This time set in Southern California, this season features another heavy-hitting cast of Rachel McAdams, Taylor Kitsch, Vince Vaughn and Colin Farrell. The plot centers around a unsettling murder which leads into a conspiracy that begins to ensnare a Highway Patrol officer (Kitsch), a mobster (Vaughn), a mob-affiliated detective (Farrell) and a County Sheriff detective (McAdams). If it’s anything like the first season, it should prove to be an entertaining, if not deeply compelling, season of television.
Rookie Blue, Season 6
June 25, ABC
If you’re sick of watching old NCIS reruns this summer but still need a cop procedural fix, Rookie Blue’s new season is your best bet. Focusing on a group of new recruits as they move up the different ranks of the police department, Rookie Blue has featured a solid cast and compelling, emotional and drama filled storylines throughout it’s last five seasons. Although I am a little worried about how it will handle a particularly out-of-the-blue (no pun intended) pregnancy plotline, I expect season six will continue the consistently entertaining storytelling trend the show has had in the past.
Masters of Sex, Season 3
July 12, Showtime
Following an excellent first season and a hit-and-miss, but overall entertaining, second run, the third edition of the show depicting the life of William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan), the sex researchers who began the conversation about human sexuality as we know it today, will feature another time jump to 1966. The six year time jump will show Masters and Johnson as they are making their more public moves with their research. An interesting development I’m excited about is that the show recast Virginia’s kids as teenagers and will be exploring, particularly in Tessa’s case, the presence of sexuality in them as well.
Wet Hot American Summer
July 17, Netflix
Acting as a prequel to the original 2001 movie, the eight episode season will focus entirely on the characters first day of camp in the summer of 1981. David Wain and Michael Showalter returned as writers and producers, as did virtually the entire original cast (despite the fact that many are twice the age of a normal high schooler) including Elizabeth Banks, Bradley Cooper, Molly Shannon, Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd.
