Since summer is the time for beaches, parades, cookouts, and fireworks, and I hate beaches, parades, cookouts, and fireworks, it's TV time! That's especially true since there are more original shows on summer now than there used to be. Here are the five shows I'm looking forward to the most. And none of them are reality shows.

1. 'Mad Men.' To use a popular phrase, duh. Of course this is number one on my list. It's still weird to me that the best drama on television is a summer show. I don't know why this is still surprising, since we're not living in 1980 anymore and summer in a real TV season now and not just a place for repeats, reality shows, and shows that need to be burned off.

Maybe it's best that this show airs in the summer. It has a little more breathing room than it would have if it debuted in October.

Season four promises some amazing things I'm sure, as we find out how Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce is doing, whether or not Ken and Paul will still be on the show in some way even though they weren't asked to join the new agency, and just how January Jones is going to stay on the show now that she's divorced from Don. I truly can't wait. I think I'll buy those 'Mad Men' Barbie dolls and do my own episodes in my apartment until the new season starts on AMC in July.



2. 'The Good Guys.' Three reasons why I'm looking forward to this new FOX show about a washed-up Dallas detective who gets a younger partner:

1. It's from 'Burn Notice' creator Matt Nix.

2. It stars Bradley Whitford and Colin Hanks.

3. Look at the mustache on Whitford!

(Special preview airs after 'American Idol' on May 19, then the series premieres on June 7.)



3. 'White Collar.' I thought this show was going to be some light, fluffy entertainment that I would forget about the morning after I watched it, but it has somehow turned into a deeper drama with a mythology I'm actually interested in. I really want to know if Kate died in that plane explosion and what is going to happen to Neal now (funny how the first season of 'White Collar' had two cliffhangers that had fans talking). No exact return date yet but it will be this summer.


4. 'Burn Notice.' A confession: I haven't watched this past season of 'Burn Notice.' I know, I know. They're piled up in a row in my DVR like planes at O'Hare during a snowstorm and I'll get to them in the next couple of months since it's one of my favorite shows on TV right now. I have to watch them soon because season four of the show starts on USA June 3.

5. Poker and Tennis. Sure, poker and tennis air on television all-year long, but summer time is special. For tennis we have Wimbledon (on ESPN late June/early July) and The U.S. Open (late August/early September, also on ESPN) and The World Series of Poker starts in late July (ESPN again - they have everything now!).

Poker isn't as hot as it was a few years ago, and I admit I too drifted away from watching it at the level I used to watch it, which is probably one of the reasons I'm interested in getting back into it this summer. Tennis is something I've always been obsessed with. Don't even try to call me during The U.S. Open.