summer

Way back in July 2007, TV Squad wrote about a bunch of shows CBS previewed and were slating for the upcoming season, including Swingtown. It was supposed to premiere in mid-season, but then mid-season came and it was nowhere to be found. The network will announce today their plans for the serial drama; it's going to run this summer. Instead of taking that move as a lack of faith in the show, executive producer Carol Barbee told The Hollywood Reporter that a summer run creatively suits the project. "A summer launch is perfect for Swingtown since the pilot takes place on the Bicentennial Fourth of July," Barbee said. Barbee has most recently been working on Jericho.

Monk will be back for a seventh season. It isn't an even number, a fact that would irritate the OCD detective to no end, but it is a lucky one. USA Network has ordered 16 new episodes of the idiosyncratic mystery series which has turned character actor Tony Shalhoub into an Emmy-winning star. USA has plans to run eight of the new episodes in July and August; then the other eight in January and February.

Before then, you can catch up with Monk, and USA's other whimsical detective series, Psych, when they air on NBC in March. Although it has not be announced as yet, USA will likely pick up Psych, too, and they will continue running in tandem.

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In April, I told you about NBC's The Great American Singing Bee, a new competition series in which contestants are challenged to sing the correct lyrics to a song. Then, recently, I told you about Don't Forget the Lyrics, a show on FOX with pretty much the exact same concept.

The Great American Singing Bee was supposed to air this fall, but NBC isn't about to let FOX steal its thunder by releasing Don't Forget the Lyrics next month. What does that mean for you, the home viewer? It means that this summer, with The Great American Spelling Bee's debut bumped up to July 10 at 9:30 (and Lyrics debuting the next day), you'll have two chances to catch a premise no one really found that interesting in the first place.

Forgive me, that was presumptuous, but I maintain a show centering on strangers butchering songs is a concept that will get old rather quickly.

Hey gang, here's a few shows I plan on checking out this summer. Some are old, some are new.

Creature Comforts [Mondays at 8:00 p.m. on CBS]: What can I say that I haven't said already? It's a charming little animated show that pipes the everyday conversation of normal human beings through animated animals. It's such a simple idea, but at the same time it demonstrates how we probably have more in common with one another than we realize.

Ice Road Truckers [begins June 17 at 10:00 p.m. on the History Channel]: This new series focuses on truck drivers who risk injury and death while driving their big rigs across frozen lakes. It's one of the world's most dangerous occupations, and one I wasn't even aware existed until hearing about this new series a few months ago.

If you love The Soup on E!, then you're not me, because I don't.

Nevertheless, the weekly funny round-up of all things reality TV-ish and talk show-y will be expanding to two nights a week starting June 18.

In addition to its usually spot on Friday nights at 10:00, six special episodes will air on Monday nights at the same time. These special episodes will offer a look back on some of the best moments from the past year, complete with new commentary from host Joel McHale. Here's what's on tap:

TNT and TBS will offer all seven of their original summer series for free online. New episodes will appear on Turner websites about about 3 am the morning following their debut, and the episodes will be available for viewing for about a month each.

Believe it or not, Turner is one of the first cable networks to do the streaming episodes thing, following in the footsteps of the big four networks, ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX. Last summer, only ABC Family offered its original programming for free online. Other networks, such as FX, Sci Fi, USA, and E! have streamed occasional episodes (mostly premieres and finales) but not entire seasons. As Broadcasting and Cable points out, it's probably because the cable networks can't demand a ton of money from carriers if their content is also available for free online.

Beginning next month, The Closer, Heartland, Saving Grace, and The Company will be on TNT.tv, while House of Payne, The Bill Engvall Show, My Boys, and The Frank Show will be on TBS.com. Episodes of The Closer, Bill Engvall, My Boys and The Frank Show will also be available on iTunes.

Via the Futon Critic, here's what's on tap on the Sci Fi Channel:

First of all, here's what's returning:

Eureka comes back for a second season July 10 (as mentioned before). I only caught a couple episodes of the first season, but I liked what I saw. If you tend to avoid Sci Fi because you think it's all deep, dark and profound stuff like Battlestar Galactica, you should give Eureka a try. It's quirky and fun without being trite.

Matthew Fox of Lost has joined the cast of the upcoming Speed Racer movie as Racer X.

FOX joins previously cast Christina Ricci (Trixie); Emile Hirsch (Speed); and John Goodman and Susan Sarandon (Speed's parents). The new movie will be helmed by the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix), and will begin shooting this summer (while Lost is on break) for a May 2008 release.

I'll admit I don't pay as much attention to movie scuttlebutt as I do television, but based on the rumblings about this movie I've caught here and there, it sounds like it could be pretty cool: an amplified, effects-laden version of the '60s cartoon. I imagine that, not unlike the Matrix movies, it'll be something that needs to be seen on the bigscreen.

(S04E16) Does this count as the end of an era? I'm not sure. When The OC first began, it sure felt like the beginning of an era. Now that it's over, I'm not exactly sure what it's the end of. Other than something that I'm really, really going to miss.

I have to be honest. The first twenty or so minutes of this episode fell pretty flat for me. I really wasn't enjoying the six-month jump, only to find out that everything we thought we knew was no more. Julie was engaged to Bullit, Taylor was back in France, and Seth and Summer had become "comfortable." Nothing was right, and despite the fact that we all knew how this was going to end, I was a little put off by the way it started. But it picked up steam and by the episode's end, I was completely satisfied with the way it all turned out.

(S04E15) It's starting to feel very final isn't it? I'm really impressed with the way the series is wrapping itself up. Some of the cheese factor still exists (Seth getting help from the homeless folks again), but for the most part the characters and their paths are falling into place.

I think this may have been the first episode of The OC that took place entirely at night. As a result, the whole episode was lit in shades of dark and light blues. It reminded me a lot of a season one episode of CSI: NY.

Overall though, what the episode really emphasized for me is how far Ryan has come. This is probably the biggest tragedy that could have possibly occurred in Newport Beach and despite that, the group remained intact with Ryan right in the middle of it. Not bad for someone who came into their lives as an outsider.

(S04E14) It's the end of the world as we know it. Well... not really, but it might be the end of Newport Beach. I have to say, I kind of like the idea that the finale Josh Schwartz "always planned to do" for The OC involves an earthquake. It's the ultimate closure for a show that takes place in California and depending on how bad you want to make it (it looked pretty bad), it can immediately force everyone into a situation where they're forced to start over.

Closure is key though. With only two episodes to go now, a lot of the broad ideas that have been lingering since the beginning of the season were brought back into play. Seth's indecisiveness, Ryan's emotional awkwardness, and Sandy's dislike for Newport all manifested themselves in some pretty creative ways. It was a satisfying episode.

(S04E12) Was anyone else slightly disappointed with this episode? It just felt kind of so-so to me. Plus, everything that was meant to be a big shock wasn't all that shocking. I know it's selfish to expect a masterpiece week in and week out, but this was the fifth to last episode. In this instance, I think we're justified in hoping for more.

All that being said, it was still a decent episode. Plenty of funny moments involving groundhogs, mail trucks, and the return of Bullit. Bang!

(S04E11) Lots going on here, a pretty jam packed episode. As usual, I loved it but there were a few things that irked me. I gripe because I love. Like all fans of The OC, I'm savoring every second of it though. Only five more episodes and it's over.

Just look at how much the show has evolved though. Stuff that happened in this episode would have never occurred in the first season. It's changed a lot and I'm all for it. The show is done. Might as well go out with a bang.

(S04E10) You can tell that Josh Schwartz and his writing team are having fun with this season. They knew the show was going to be canceled well before we did. So it only makes sense that these remaining episodes feel fresh, like the writers are taking chances. Why wouldn't they? The show is over -- they can do whatever they want.

There are pros and cons to that though. Sometimes too much creative freedom can be a bad thing. Example one? I feel like Sandy and Kirsten have been forgotten. Especially Sandy. It seems that lately his only role has been popping in here and there to offer brief words of advice to Ryan. Although I will say that his Jerry Lewis impersonation was hilarious.