The heady days of the fall TV season have come to an end. We laughed, we cried, we yelled at Don Draper. Sigh. Oh well, welcome to the crapshoot of the summer TV season, land of miniseries and long shots.
Here are some highlights:
Fans of bloodletter/analyzer Dexter are getting ready for the premiere of the eighth and final season on June 30 (The Movie Network, 9 p.m.).
New to the cast is Charlotte Rampling (Swimming Pool), playing Dr. Evelyn Vogel, a neuro-psychiatrist with an interest in Mr. Morgan, and Sean Patrick Flanery (The Boondock Saints), as a PI. Details on the show’s finale are hush, hush, but as always there’s sure to be blood, melodrama and blood.
As one Showtime show comes to an end, another is set to start, with the gritty Ray Donovan premiering June 30 (The Movie Network, June 30). The show stars Liev Schreiber as Ray, a “fixer” who makes all manner of problems go away for the L.A. elite. Trouble starts brewing when his father, played by Jon Voight, is released early from prison. Cue the family drama, fist throwing, drugs and bloodied baseball bats. If the trailer is any indication, Ray Donovan should be dark and dangerous, just the way I like ‘em.
Stephen King’s long tradition of TV miniseries continues with Under the Dome, which premiered last Monday on Global. The 13-episode run tells the sort of Chester’s Mill, Maine, a small town which is suddenly inexplicably surrounded by an impenetrable barrier. That looks to be the long and the short of it, but with Swedish Girl With the Dragon Tattoo director Niels Arden Oplev pulling the reins for the pilot there could be something more to the one-trick-pony looking plot line. Look for episode two July 1.
Other notable premieres:
Siberia (New series), July 1 - NBC, 10 p.m.
Get Out Alive with Bear Grylis (New series),
July 8 - NBC, 9 p.m.
The Bridge (New series), July 10 - FX, 10 p.m.
Camp (New series), July 10 - NBC, 9 p.m.
Orange is the New Black (New series),
July 11 - Netflix, midnight
The Newsroom, July 14 - HBO, 10 p.m.
Home video releases:
Last Resort, Season 1 - July 2
Unforgettable, Season 1 - July 9
Warehouse 13, Season 4 - July 9
Hell on Wheels, Season 2 - July 16
Kwells@goldstreamgazette.com