Summer TV programming used to be a wasteland of reruns, reruns and more reruns. Seasons ran from September to May, and that's the way it was and we liked it! OK, we didn't really like it, but it got all the kids outside for the summer. But no more of that nonsense. We'll keep 'em glued to the tube year-round now.

Cable networks have been launching new and returning shows in the summer, and it makes sense, because they don't have the tough competition from the broadcast networks. Along with that, though, are seriously competitive timeslots, especially Tuesday at 10PM. If we didn't know better, we'd think it was Thursday at 9PM. You know, 'Grey's Anatomy,' 'The Office,' 'CSI,' 'Fringe,' and 'Supernatural,' among others. That's some serious competition.

ABC has started production on their new summer reality series Wipeout. The show features 24 thrill-seeking contestants who will race in the world's largest extreme obstacle course. According to the press release, the course was designed to create the "most spills, face plants and wipeouts ever seen on television." I can't help but wonder if anyone at ABC has seen MTV's Jackass. Just a thought.

The obstacles and contestants change every week. Some of the obstacles are "Dizzy Dummy," "Dirty Balls," (there's a bad joke in there somewhere), and the "Dreadmill" which gets contestants to jump hurdles on a 40-foot long treadmill moving at "warpspeed" (ABC's words, not mine).

Here's something of interest: John Henson (Talk Soup) will be co-hosting with John Anderson of SportsCenter. Henson is reason enough for me to give this show at least one go-round. What about you? Will you tune in to Wipeout?

Wipeout is slated to premiere on Tuesday June 24th at 8:00 p.m. ET / PT on ABC.

Do you hear that sound? It's the sound of summer dying. Only a few more weeks 'til Jerry Lewis comes out on stage and the kids are back and school and we're reviewing the new fall shows.

In the meantime, ABC has a plan: they're bringing back The Nine again and running a marathon of shows the last week of August. Ha! Just kidding. I think ABC is done kicking that show around. But they do have a plan for the rest of the summer: they're going to run Emmy-nominated episodes of their shows, including Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives, Boston Legal, According To Jim, Extreme Makeover, and Grey's Anatomy. The episodes will feature sneak previews of the new fall season.

And I'm sure I speak for all of America when I ask, "According To Jim was nominated for an Emmy?"

We gave a list earlier from USA Today which talked about all the new shows premiering this summer. I won't provide a link to the post because like a lot of TV stuff that USA Today has been doing lately, it's incomplete. Here's the real list, compiled by our friends over at The Futon Critic: all the new shows you'll see this summer, as well as returning shows, complete with summaries and premiere dates:

• Comedy 
• Drama
• Reality Competition
• Unscripted
• Original Movies/Mini-Series

• ABC is debuting several new shows and new episodes of current shows during June, including Welcome to the Neighborhood, Brat Camp, the Roman miniseries Empire, and 10 new episodes of Wife Swap (egads). All of this makes me worried that Eyes won't be repeated much this summer, if at all. The American Idol expose is already airing in the time slot on May 4. Eyes really deserves a chance to build an audience.
• CSI: Miami writer Steven Maeda is joining the writing staff of Lost.
• Court TV and National Public Radio are joining forces.
• Are you awake at around 2:30 or so in the morning, watching ABC? World News Now and World News This Morning have a new executive producer. I used to love watching ABC overnight. Does that guy still play the accordion while giving the news?