Ah, summer: barbecues, warm nights, fireworks and…television? Mid-year programs have fallen rather flat in recent memory, and this season will feature plenty of shows worth tossing out with the three-day-old macaroni salad. Despite past disappointments, however, this summer could prove to have a gem or two.

Projection Box: Bright (Sun), Mixed Skies (Sun with Cloud), Gloomy (Rain and Thunder)

‘Mad Men’ Premieres: August at 10 p.m. on AMC Starring: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones The premise: Set in the 1960s, ‘Mad Men’ revolves around employees at Sterling Cooper, a Madison Avenue advertising agency. Don Draper (Hamm) works as the creative director. He’s quite good at his job and quite good at romancing women, but his philandering lands him in trouble with his gorgeous wife (January Jones). And he has a mysterious past, which includes an assumed identity. Numerous other characters bring the same sort of drama to Sterling Cooper: Pete Campbell, an account executive, has a family life nearly as turbulent as Don’s, and Peggy Olsen (Moss), a secretary-turned-copywriter, must struggle to break into the all-male world of advertising.

Long-range projection: Bright ‘Mad Men’ is not a mad way to spend 60 minutes. Hamm leads a solid core of capable actors. The writing is exceptional and the dialog proves crisp thanks to Matthew Weiner (‘The Sopranos’). But Weiner will need to make sure the storyline flows smoothly forward after the tumultuous second season finale.

‘Dating in the Dark’ Premieres: July 20 at 10 p.m. on ABC Starring: Contestants The premise: On this BBC reality show import, three women and men go on a series of dates and do all the sorts of things couples do on first dates. The catch? They live in a pitch black house and can’t see each other while they’re together, but the audience at home can, thanks to night-vision cameras. At the end of the show, the different pairs see each other for the first time and decide to stay together or call it quits.

Long-range projection: Gloomy It will be kind of interesting to see how this twisted psychological experiment turns out. Will hot contestants go home with ugly ones just because of their personalities? No one knows, but after one episode no one will care, either. This show will be just more reality fodder and mindless television. Rossi Morreale will host the show. Who is Rossi Morreale?

‘America’s Got Talent’ Premieres: June 24 at 9 p.m. on NBC Starring: Contestants and hosts David Hasselhoff, Sharon Osbourne, Piers Morgan, and Nick CannonThe premise: Anyone can bring his circus to this show: magicians, musical acts, comedians, jugglers, dancers, singers – anything goes. After the contestants put on their shows, the judges select a few to become eligible for the final prize of $1 million. Bonus points are awarded for originality and weirdness.

Long range projection: Mixed Skies It’s definitely worth tuning in for a bit to catch a few of the acts. And where else can you find that group of judges? But basically, this show is a poor man’s ‘American Idol’.

‘Mental’ Premieres: May 22 at 9 p.m. on Fox Starring: Chris Vance, Annabella Sciorra

The premise: Fox has been pretty close-mouthed about this new show – it’s not even on its Web site. What is known looks like this: Vance stars as Jack Gallagher, a rogue psychiatrist working at a Los Angeles mental health hospital. He doesn’t always follow the rules, much to the chagrin of his boss, Nora Skoff (Sciorra), who also happens to be Gallagher’s ex-lover.

Long range projection: Mixed Skies Mental looks like a half-hearted send-up of ‘House.’ Vance is a serviceable actor, but he’s no Hugh Laurie. And for this show to work at all, Vance and Scoirra will need to have good on-screen chemistry. The plot will really be the deciding factor. Let’s hope the writers manage a compelling storyline. They should have plenty to work with between the romantic past and the fact that everyone in LA is a bit crazy.

Sidebar: Falling Behind: Three Shows Not Worthy of Next Fall

‘Scrubs’ Code blue! Code blue! ‘Scrubs’ never survived the transition to ABC, and this season has been a real stinker. Every episode is drawn out and stale.

‘Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles’ The entire plot of this show will be rendered pointless when ‘Terminator Salvation’ opens in theaters. The acting’s not half bad, but it can only survive for so long on a storyline that no longer falls in line with the rest of the ‘Terminator’ universe.

‘Friday Night Lights’ How long can a show about a high school football team really last? It’s in its third season now and the cast already look like they should be declaring for the NFL draft, not deciding on college.

Adbrown03@syr.edu

Published on April 26, 2009 at 12:00 pm