In NBC's Persons Unknown, a new 13-episode mystery series from Christopher McQuarrie, the Oscar-winning writer of The Usual Suspects, a group of strangers finds themselves trapped in a seemingly deserted town with no chance of escape. Just what brought them there? Why were they taken from their lives? And what are they meant to do now? Think Lost crossed with The Prisoner, with a dash of The Cube thrown in for good measure, as the characters look to solve a larger than life puzzle and keep their heads intact. Interestingly, the project—an international co-production from Fox Television Studios—was originally developed at Sci-Fi (now Syfy) and had overt sci-fi elements to it. Will you, too, want to escape, or will you be happy sticking around a town that contains one Chinese restaurant and ominous security cameras? (Launched Monday, June 7th at 10 p.m.)
Michael Lavine
Fox already offered a sneak peek of the new action-comedy procedural The Good Guys—created by Matt Nix ( Burn Notice)—last month, ahead of the series premiere. While that strategy paid off with the smash-hit Glee, viewers weren't quite so keen to sample The Good Guys, which revolves around two mismatched detectives—boozy, lecherous screw-up Dan Stark (Bradley Whitford) and by-the-books Boy Scout Jack Bailey (Colin Hanks)—who manage to bumble their way from small cases into shootouts. Look for the show to both embrace and parody 1980s cops clichés, as the partners jump from cars, outrun exploding buildings, and the like. The show also stars Diana-Maria Riva and Jenny Wade. (Launched Monday, June 7th at 9 p.m.)
Having already based reality competition series around fashion designers, chefs, hairstylists, and interior designers, Bravo attempts to tackle fine art with Magical Elves-produced Work of Art: The Next Great Artist, which follows 14 aspirants on the cusp of stardom as they compete for a solo show at the Brooklyn Museum and seed money of $100,000 to fund their work (and, one would image, help pay the bills). But lest you think that this all sounds about as interesting as watching paint dry, think again. In the hands of executive producers Jane Lipsitz, Dan Cutforth, Eli Holzman, and Sarah Jessica Parker, this concept is transformed into a slick and compelling format that doesn't require any art history knowledge and asks you to check your preconceptions about art (and artists) at the door. Is the next Damian Hirst one of these lucky few? We'll have to wait and see. (Launches Wednesday, June 9th at 10 p.m.)
Andrew Eccles
Head back to Bon Temps with Season 3 of HBO's addictive vampire drama True Blood, which returns with even more sex, violence, and mayhem. Just who was behind the kidnapping of vampire Bill (Stephen Moyer) at the end of last season? Will Sookie (Anna Paquin) be able to find him and accept his marriage proposal… or will she be further drawn towards the dark embrace of Bill's rival, Eric Northman (Alexander Skarsgard)? Season 3 looks to answer all those questions and more as executive producer Alan Ball and his writing team bring viewers new characters (hello, Alcide!), new creatures (werewolves), and new romances, pushing the action once again beyond the borders of Bon Temps, this time plunging into dangerous intrigues in the state of Mississippi—which has its own Vampire King, Russell Edgington (Denis O'Hare)—and in backwoods werewolf bars. You're going to want to stay in on Sundays. (Returns Sunday, June 13th at 9 p.m.)
It's time to sharpen your knives as original-flavor Top Chef returns to the lineup this summer, right after the cabler wraps its Top Chef Masters spinoff. (No word on what's happened to the other spinoff Top Chef: Just Desserts, which was originally meant to have aired this summer.) Seventeen contestants—each blessed with a phenomenal palate and gobs of ambition—compete head to head in a series of challenges designed to pick out the ultimate culinary victor. This time, the action unfolds in Washington D.C., and special guests will include Nancy Pelosi, Buzz Aldrin, CIA Director Leon Panetta, NBC White House correspondent Savannah Guthrie, and a NASA astronaut in orbit over the Earth. Fire up your taste buds. (Launches Wednesday, June 16th at 9 p.m.)
Justin Stephens
Based on New Zealand drama Outrageous Fortune, ABC's Scoundrels—overseen by Nip/Tuck's Lyn Greene and Richard Levine—revolves around a no-good family of criminals whose matriarch—played by Academy Award-nominee Virginia Madsen—attempts to put them on the straight and narrow when her husband is sent to prison. Will her children—themselves small-time crooks and scammers—follow her lead, or will they be tempted back to their old ways, even with dear old dad in the slammer? The cast includes David James Elliott ( JAG), Carlos Bernard ( 24), Patrick Flueger ( The 4400), Leven Rambin ( Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), and Vanessa Marano ( Gilmore Girls) and look for former 90210-er Jason Priestley to turn up a few episodes down the line. (Launches Sunday, June 20th at 9 p.m.)
Bob D'Amico
Those of you heartbroken when Showtime's lesbian drama The L Word ended might want to check out the pay cabler's newest offering, The Real L Word, which offers an unscripted take on the lives of six real-life lesbians in Los Angeles in an uncensored, no holds-barred approach that can only occur on pay cable. From executive producers Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz (the Magical Elves), and Ilene Chaiken (the creator of The L Word), The Real L Word will follow a group of ladies as they work and play. As for the cast, the women include a development executive, an agent-type, a special effects artist, and a real estate advisor, each with their own issues, demands, and, well, passions. (Launches Sunday, June 20th at 10 p.m.)
Showtime
Television vampires aren't only down in Louisiana this summer. ABC's new nighttime soap, The Gates, takes the viewer behind the sturdy fences of a gated community to reveal the sordid lives of its residents, many of whom might just be of the supernatural variety. Yes, there are vampires, werewolves, and witches lurking behind the pristine lawns of this affluent community and it's up to newly installed chief of police Nick Monahan (Frank Grillo), who has moved his family from Chicago to The Gates, to untangle the mysteries lurking behind the pleasant facades. The result is something rather akin to blending Desperate Housewives with True Blood or Wolf Lake. The Fox Television Studios-produced drama also stars Chandra West, Colton Haynes, Janina Gavankar, Justin Miles, Luke Mably, Marisol Nichols, Rhona Mitra, Skyler Samuels, Travis Caldwell, and Victoria Platt. (Launches Sunday, June 20th at 10 p.m.)
Steve Dietl
Jason Lee ( My Name is Earl) returns to television with cop drama Memphis Beat (formerly known as Delta Blues), as he takes on the role of Dwight Hendricks, a blues-loving police detective who has dubbed himself "the keep of Memphis," and who has a very close relationship with his mother (Celia Weston) and an estranged one with his new boss (Alfre Woodard). Created by Liz W. Garcia and Joshua Harto, the drama also stars DJ Qualls, Sam Hennings, Leonard Earl Howze, and Abraham Benrubi—and is executive produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov. Given the prominence of music in Memphis, look for some compositions from blues singer-songwriter Keb' Mo' and frequent songs from members of the cast. But, despite the singing, this isn't Cop Rock. (Launches Tuesday, June 22nd at 10 p.m.)
Stephen King's novella The Colorado Kid becomes the spine on which Syfy hangs its new supernatural drama Haven. While it diverges entirely from the plot of that recent book, Haven does incorporate the titular character from King's work into this eerie mystery series. FBI Agent Audrey Parker ( Brothers & Sisters' Emily Rose) arrives in the small town of Haven, Maine while working on a case but soon discovers that her own past is tied up with that of this seemingly idyllic town, which conceals a secret of its own: it's home to people who have bizarre supernatural afflictions. Soon, Audrey finds herself unlocking mysteries from her own childhood as well as that of the town's residents, and becomes enmeshed in a love triangle with local cop Nathan Wuronos (Lucas Bryant) and enigmatic misfit Duke Crocker (Eric Balfour). (Launches Friday, July 9th at 10 p.m.)
TNT once again dips into the well of strong female detectives and this time pulls out Rizzoli & Isles, based on the novels of crime novelist Tess Gerritsen. Angie Harmon ( Law & Order) and Sasha Alexander ( NCIS) star in this Boston-set police procedural as Detective Jane Rizzoli and Medical Examiner Maura Isles, polar opposites who have formed a strong friendship and working relationship with one another. While Rizzoli is a tough-as-nails guy's girl, Maura is a designer-clad woman more comfortable around corpses. Despite their inclination to raise their emotional walls around others, these two have found a way to let each other in, even as they tackle some gruesome and heinous crimes. Harmon and Alexander are joined by Lorraine Bracco, Lee Thompson Young, Bruce McGill, and Jordan Bridges. (Launches Monday, July 12th at 10 p.m.)
The boys are back. USA and creator Jeff Eastin's fun and frothy caper series White Collar returns for a second season that catches up with the unlikely partnership between Matt Bomer's reformed ex-con man Neal Caffrey and Tim DeKay's FBI lawman Peter Burke. Expect long cons, high fashion, and snappy repartee as well as a series that unites action, wit, and a throwback to the luxury of such debonair caper films as To Catch a Thief. Look for Marsha Thomason's Diana—who disappeared after White Collar's pilot and resurfaced at the end of the first season—to return as a series regular for Season 2, along with Tiffani Thiessen and Willie Garson. (Diahann Carroll also returns in a recurring capacity.) Catching crooks never looked so effortlessly stylish. (Returns Tuesday, July 13th at 9 p.m.)
David Giesbrecht
USA delves into the high-stakes espionage world of the CIA with new drama series Covert Affairs, which stars Piper Perabo ( Coyote Ugly), Christopher Gorham ( Ugly Betty), Peter Gallagher ( The O.C.), Anne Dudek ( House), Sendhil Ramamurthy ( Heroes), and Kari Matchett ( Heartland). Perabo plays Annie Walker, a CIA trainee who lands a promotion, but it's really a smoke screen for what the higher-ups really want: her ex-boyfriend, who is now a very dangerous man. Gorham plays her handler, Gallagher her boss, Ramamuthy a legacy spy, and Dudek Annie's older sister. Matchett, meanwhile, plays Joan, a CIA division head who just so happens to be married to Gallagher's character. The project was created by Matt Corman and Chris Ord and is executive produced by Doug Liman and Dave Bartis. (Launches Tuesday, July 15th at 10 p.m.)
Steve Wilkie
British import Being Human, created by Toby Whithouse, returns for a second season of supernatural angst as the three unlikely roommates—werewolf George (Russell Tovey), vampire Mitchell (Aidan Turner), and ghostly Annie (Lenora Critchlow)—pick up the pieces after the events of Season 1, even as new threats arise. Namely the arrival of the enigmatic Professor Lucy Jaggat ( Rome's Lyndsey Marshal), a religious zealot who wants to wipe out supernaturals from the face of the planet. Meanwhile, George contends with having a girlfriend who is aware of his secret, Mitchell faces a bloodthirsty vampire nation without leadership, and Annie must deal with the consequences of not going through the door of death last season. Can these three find a way to live a normal life together? (Returns Saturday, July 24th at 9 p.m.)
Matthew Weiner's slick and stylish period drama series Mad Men returns for a fourth season this summer. Both Weiner and AMC are playing their cards close to the vest as neither will reveal just when Season 4 will be set, nor how much time has gone by since the end of Season 3, which brought about the end of advertising agency Sterling Cooper, the setting for the first three seasons. It also ended the Drapers' marriage, and had Don Draper (Jon Hamm) set up shop in a hotel room as he assembles a team for his new ragtag agency. Just how will ex-wife Betty (January Jones) fit into the mix? Which former Sterling Cooper minions will stay with Don and who will be cast out into the wind? Find out in July as Mad Men ramps up for another season of taut characterization, precise period details, and gripping emotion. (Returns Sunday, July 25th at 10 p.m.)
Fox sets its sights on luring the Top Chef crowd away from Bravo this summer for this new culinary competition series executive produced and hosted by Gordon Ramsay. Masterchef, based on an international format that has spawned hits in the United Kingdom and Australia, pits amateur chefs—many of whom cook for a hobby—against one another in a series of challenges designed to weed out the competition and leave one victor standing at the end, with the title of Masterchef. Ramsay will be joined at the judges table by Graham Elliot Bowles and Joe Bastianich, both of whom will also mentor the contestants along the way. Here's to hoping that Ramsay is more in his more genial F Word mode than his over the top screaming taskmaster self from Hell's Kitchen. (Launches Tuesday, July 27th at 9 p.m.)
The gang from the Jersey Shore—including Snooki, The Situation, DJ Paulie D, JWoww, and the rest—return to fist-pump their way through life. Season 2 takes the Jersey Shore cast out of the Garden State as they head to Miami Beach for the spring and, as the weather heats up in New Jersey, returning back to Seaside Heights for the summer. Will there be ample opportunities to fulfill the daily trifecta—gym, tan, laundry—and avoid getting into fights? Will sparks reignite between (the currently broken up) Sammi and Ronnie? Just how many girls will the Jersey Shore guys "smush" this summer? Who are the new Guidos and Guidettes that will join the crew later this season? Give yourself a nickname and find out. (Returns Thursday, July 29th at 10 p.m.)
AMC gets into the conspiracy game with Rubicon, a dramatic thriller set in a New York City-based government intelligence agency think tank. James Badge Dale ( The Pacific) stars as analyst Will Travers, who uncovers a series of clues that point towards a dangerous conspiracy and a cabal of power brokers who can exert their influence against anyone. Just what is the meaning of the four-leaf clover? How does what Will discovers intersect with the wife of a politician (Miranda Richardson)? The threads begin to come together this summer with a taut thriller that's overseen by Henry Bromell ( Brotherhood). The rest of the ensemble cast includes Dallas Roberts ( The L Word), Jessica Collins ( The Nine), Christopher Evan Welch ( Vicky Christina Barcelona), Lauren Hodges ( Law & Order), and Arliss Howard ( The Sandlot). (Launches Sunday, August 1st at 9 p.m.)
Catch up with the increasingly dark and criminal Botwins as they return for a sixth season of Weeds, and then stick around for new dark comedy The Big C, from creator Darlene Hunt. The show—which tackles the touchy subject of cancer—stars Emmy Award-winner Laura Linney as Cathy, a suburban Connecticut mother and wife who discovers that she has terminal cancer and must find a way to cope with her death… and her life. Oliver Platt ( Huff) plays her immature husband Paul, while Academy Award nominee Gabourey Sidibe ( Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire) plays one of Cathy's students. Cathy discovers that death needn't be total darkness but is able to embrace what's left of her life by giving in to humor. The pilot was directed by Bill Condon ( Dreamgirls). (Launches Monday, August 16th at 10:30 p.m.)
