Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Sizzling Summer Television

With the four major networks on summer hiatus, Cable comes to the rescue with sizzling shows over the summer. A few of my favorites.

The Closer – Mondays, TNT
Deputy Police Chief Brenda Lee Johnson finally married FBI agent Fritz Howard at the end of last season. Post-honeymoon, the chief is back in action with a quadruple homicide in the premiere. Under Brenda’s soft southern drawl is a steel magnolia who heads a police team of cranky codgers, sparring ex-lovers, and top notch cops who find just right mix of humor and pathos.

Saving Grace – Tuesdays TNT
Detective Grace Hanadarko is a bad girl with a gun, a badge, and fearless attitude. Grace has managed to land a last-chance angel in Earl, the other-worldly being who’s trying to save her from herself. This multi-layer portrait of a rebellious Catholic cop in the Bible Belt of Oklahoma City will definitely make the second edition of Hollywood and Catholic Women.

Bones – Thursdays, FOX
Dr. Temperance Brennan is a highly skilled forensic anthropologist who works at the Jeffersonian Institute in Washington, DC, and writes novels as a sideline. When the standard methods of identifying a body are useless law enforcement calls in Brennan for her uncanny ability to read clues left behind in the victim's bones. Special Agent Seeley Booth of the FBI's Homicide Investigations Unit mistrusts science and scientists - the "squints," as he calls them -- who pore over the physical evidence of a crime. But even he cannot deny that the combination of his people-smarts and Brennan's scientific acumen makes them a formidable team. And let’s not forget the increasing physical attraction between the two leads.

Burn Notice – Thursdays, USA
Everyone’s favorite burned CIA spy, Michael Westen, along with his trigger-happy girlfriend Fiona and best friend/spy, Sam now knows who burned him, but isn’t sure why. Michael’s still got a target on his back as he works to get his life back (and we hope Miss Fiona Glenanne, also a freelancing bounty hunter). But first, he’s got to help his very upset mom rebuild her destroyed sun room.

What’s so interesting is that every one of these shows features strong, smart, multi-faceted female characters, three of which are in the lead roles. The only thing that could be cooler is the terrific Glenn Close series, Damages being on at the same time. Alas, I’ll have to wait until January for that.

Posted by katwrites at 2:29 PM