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Ready to shift your attention away from television and focus on summer movie blockbusters? Well, sorry, friend, but TV’s overall intrigue isn’t about to slow down anytime soon.
Just as folks say goodbye to Mad Men until next year and mentally prepare to do the same with Game of Thrones in three weeks, your favorite networks are set to roll out a large crop of popular veteran shows and intriguing newcomers. On the sadder front, next month kicks off the final season of HBO’s True Blood, and in August, all 12 of you who still love The Killing will have to accept that Netflix has only rescued it for one more shortened season. It’s not all gloom and teary farewells, though. In addition to returning social media staples Pretty Little Liars and Teen Wolf, there’s the premiere of Disney’s Boy Meets World sequel/spinoff Girl Meets World, the long-awaited unveiling of HBO’s The Leftovers, and more Orange Is the New Black.
And that’s just to name a few of television’s buzziest events this hot weather season. For a complete breakdown of the reasons why your beach time is about to be truncated, here are The Most Anticipated TV Shows of the Summer.
Related: Must Watch TV Shows of 2017
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Halt and Catch Fire (AMC)
Stars: Lee Pace, Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, Kerry Bishé, Toby Huss, David Wilson Barnes
Premiere date: June 1
Don't get it confused. Halt and Catch Fire is no Silicon Valley. It's not a mile-a-minute joke fest populated by a bunch of nerds insecure about their sexuality. No, Halt and Catch Fire is it's own beast. The slick new drama, set in the '80s, follows a suave entrepreneur who recruits two techies—one a frustrated Steve Wozniak type, the other a rebellious hacker who looks like a Mary Stuart Masterson clone—to help him top IBM.
It's a thought-provoking new drama that's slow to start but promises to titillate your senses with computer lingo that'll make you feel smart and '80s music that'll transport you back in time. It'll hook you with nostalgia, but keep you coming back for its dynamic characters. —Tara Aquino
Orange Is the New Black (Netflix)
Stars: Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon, Natasha Lyonne, Michael J. Harney, Taryn Manning, Michelle Hurst, Kate Mulgrew, Jason Biggs, Laverne Cox, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Dascha Polanco, Lorraine Toussaint, Uzo Aduba, Yael Stone, Pablo Schreiber
Premiere date: June 6
If you binge-watched Orange Is the New Black's first season within a one-week period, we don't have to tell you to be excited for the prison comedy's new season—it just is, like the sky is blue and the grass is green and Donald Trump is an asshole. If you haven't binge-watched season one yet, you need to stop reading this paragraph right now, get yourself to Netflix, and do that immediately. Seriously, right now. Go.
Done?
OK, now that we're on the same page... The good news: The promos for Orange Is the New Black's second season look awesome. Not only is the entire cast back, season two will also feature some brand new faces (like Friday Night Lights star Lorraine Toussaint's character, Vee), more jailbird drama, and Sophia (Laverne Cox) being fab. —Tanya Ghahremani
Power (Starz)
Stars: Omari Hardwick, Naturi Naughton, Lela Loren, Joseph Sikora, Sinqua Walls, LaLa Anthony, Katherine Narducci, 50 Cent
Premiere date: June 7
Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson has already conquered the music industry, worked extensively in film, overseen a successful fashion line, and netted serious bank from grape-flavored vitamin water, so why not try his hand at television dominance?
That's 50's intentions with Power, an eight-episode drama series about an NYC drug kingpin named James "Ghost" St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), a hugely successful criminal who's determined to go straight. His method for legal living: He owns and runs one of the city's most popular and fanciest nightclubs. He's also married (to a firecracker played by Naturi Naughton) and unable to completely leave the drug game behind.
Yes, that's a premise we've all seen before, as is the plot wrinkle about Ghost's former lover (played by Lela Loren) trying to re-win his affections while working for the law. The optimism, however, derives from Power's showrunner, Courtney Kemp Agboh—a former producer on The Good Wife, she definitely knows what a high-quality TV show looks like. The question, of course, is whether or not she can bring that winning sensibility to something conceived by a television neophyte like Mr. Curtis Jackson. —Matt Barone
Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family)
Stars: Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell, Ashley Benson, Troian Bellisario, Ian Harding, Laura Leighton, Janel Parish, Sasha Pieterse, Keegan Allen, Holly Marie Combs
Premiere date: June 10
Now that fans have got the answer to "Is Ali or isn't Ali dead?" question out of the way. (Spoiler alert: She's very much alive.) Season five is promising a whole new kind of drama involving Ali's reintegration into the world of the living. After four seasons of the titular liars going back and forth between who killed Ali and who this cyberbully "A" is that's terrorizing their lives, Ali's more involved storyline should solve PLL's redundancy issues.
Pretty Little Liars is a rollercoaster that won't unstrap you. You've got to stay on the ride 'til it says it's done with you. And c'mon, what kind of fan would leave after putting themselves through the emotional torture that's been trying to figure out who "A" is without actually getting a concrete answer? Again, just hold on fans, Ali's bringing a whole new bag of secrets that's bound to make the show captivating again. So to speak. —Tara Aquino
True Blood (HBO)
Stars: Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, Alexander Skarsgård, Ryan Kwanten, Rutina Wesley, Sam Trammell, Chris Bauer, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Deborah Ann Woll, Lauren Bowles, Nelsan Ellis, Joe Manganiello, Carrie Preston
Premiere date: June 15
At its best, HBO's True Blood is TV's most enjoyably batshit show, with high amounts of kinky sex, ultra-violence, and pitch-black humor. At its worst, it's TV's most frustratingly scatterbrained hour, overcrowded with too many central characters and unrefined in its ability to parcel out fulfilling storylines among all of them. That negative point has been especially prescient during True Blood's last two seasons, which, for some, makes the news that this summer's True Blood run will be the show's final go seem wise. After all, there are only so many ways vampires can have sex while covered in blood.
Yet, now that True Blood's last season is rapidly approaching, true fans are already starting to miss it. Because even when the show kind of sucks, it's always the "so bad it's good" brand of entertainment that's unfortunately scarce on television nowadays. Shows are either superb, terrible, or merely forgettable. True Blood's the rare series that's consistently all of those at once. —Matt Barone
Rectify (Sundance Channel)
Stars: Aden Young, Abigail Spencer, Adelaide Clemens, J. Smith-Cameron, Claye Crawford, Luke Kirby
Premiere date: June 19
Need something heavy to balance out all the lighthearted summer fun? Spend some time with Rectify, Ray McKinnon’s brilliant slow cooking drama about a former death row inmate who struggles to make sense of life and reintegrate into society in small-town Georgia when DNA evidence frees him after 19 years in a cell anticipating death.
Aden Young, the show’s relatively unknown Australian lead actor, is staggering as Daniel Holden, a protagonist who’s every bit as complicated and enigmatic as a Don Draper or Tony Soprano. Holden, who was high out of his mind when his 16-year-old girlfriend was raped and murdered, and who endured years of physical and psychological abuse in prison, is no more convinced of his innocence than the suspicious and menacing townsfolk who'd rather he disappear. And beneath his quiet pensiveness, he is an understandably rage-filled ticking time bomb—one of several that promises to explode the town at any moment.
Following season one’s sudden, violent climax, which developed splendidly out of a deliberate slow pace that captured the crawl of time behind bars and in a small Southern town, Rectify returns this summer to further explore Holden’s troubled mind (quite literally at times), the turmoil that his presence creates in his hometown and his family, and the small matter of a killer who remains undetected. Full of all the character development and meaningful action that will be missing from drunken pool parties and comic book blockbusters, Rectify is the perfect shade in which to hide from all those damned rays of sunshine. —Justin Monroe
The Last Ship (TNT)
Stars: Eric Dane, Rhona Mitra, Adam Baldwin, Tracy Middendorg, Jocko Sims, Charles Parnell, Christina Elmore, Michaela McManus, Sam Spruell, Travis Van Winkle
Premiere date: June 22
The Last Ship is executive-produced by Michael Bay. So you know what that means, rigth? Yup, there will be many bombs, blasts, and some exciting end-of-the-world antics. Just no Autobots, though.
The show is based on a novel by William Brinkley and features Eric Dane (of Grey's Anatomy fame) as Tom Chandler, captain of the U.S.S. Nathan James, a Navy destroyer that miraculously survives the apocalypse. As the only known survivors of this global pandemic, the ship's crew must face the realities of their situation and seek a cure to save humanity—from, yes, amongst other threats, massive amounts of explosions. Because, Michael Bay. —Rachel Sheldon
Teen Wolf (MTV)
Stars: Tyler Posey, Dylan O'Brien, Tyler Hoechlin, Holland Roden
Premiere date: June 23
If you're still recovering from the emotional trauma that the last two episodes of season three put you through, we're here with you. With the death of main character Alison Argent sending shockwaves through the entire Teen Wolf fandom (think of it like the time Marissa was killed off The O.C.), the rest of the living cast—Scott, Stiles, Lydia, and Chris Argent—must find a way to pull themselves back together.
However, they can't get too comfortable wallowing in their misery as an old threat has been resurrected and returned to town for Derek's head: Kate Argent, now a she-wolf. Only time will tell what her return will mean for supernatural folk of Beacon Hills. —Tara Aquino
Tyrant (FX)
Stars: Adam Rayner, Jennifer Finnigan, Anne Winters, Ashraf Barhom, Moran Atias, Justin Kirk
Premiere date: June 24
From Homeland creators Gideon Raff and Howard Gordon comes the new drama Tyrant, which takes place in the fictional war-torn country of Baladi and follows Bassam "Barry" Al Fayeed (Adam Rayner), the son of the nation's dictator. Barry has been living in self-exile in Los Angeles with his conventional American family for 20 years; he decides to return to his home country for his nephew's wedding, and the inevitable culture clash ensues.
The not-unlike-The-Godfather show's inception comes with some baggage, however: There's already been scattered grumbling and grousing about its portrayal of the Middle East. Whatever critics say, Tyrant could bring a brand-new perspective on a world previously unexplored in popular television, and it will undoubtedly stir the pot (which isn't necessarily a bad thing). —Rachel Sheldon
Girl Meets World (Disney Channel)
Stars: Rowan Blanchard, Ben Savage, Sabrina Carpenter, Peyton Meyer, August Maturo, Danielle Fishel
Premiere date: June 27
Anyone who watched even five minutes of television in the '90s knows of (and likely loved) ABC's Boy Meets World. How could they not? It was such a simple, innocent show about, as the title suggests, a boy named Cory Matthews going through various stages of life and becoming a man. It was also about his brother constantly yelling "Fee-hee-heenay!" at their forever teacher, and next door neighbor, Mr. Feeny.
Though it seems strange to be in your late 20s and excited for a Disney Channel series called Girl Meets World, it's really a no-brainer. This spinoff is, if nothing else, an excuse to revisit Cory Matthews, whom we grew up with, as well as his now-wife, Topanga (Danielle Fishel), and their young daughter, Riley (Rowan Blanchard).
If this show ultimately sucks (which, according to one Complex staffer, could very well happen), can someone volunteer to head over to Disney? —Tanya Ghahremani
The Leftovers (HBO)
Stars: Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Ann Dowd, Christopher Eccleston, Carrie Coon, Liv Tyler, Michael Gaston, Margaret Qualley, Charlie Carver, Max Carver, Chris Zylka, Emily Meade
Premiere date: June 29
If HBO and co-creators Damon Lindelof (of Lost infamy) and Tom Perrotta can do this right, The Leftovers could be the best TV show of the summer, if not a contender for "Best of 2014" distinction. Perrotta's original 2011 novel definitely hints at that level of potential. An exceptional marriage of well-placed humor, heart-ripping emotion, and The Twilight Zone-styled imagination, The Leftovers envisions what society would be like if the Rapture were to happen and leave millions of people behind, alive but questioning why they weren't included in that Biblical displacement miracle/nightmare (depending on how you look at it). Cults are formed, loving relationships are formed between unlikely mates, and darkness creeps in when it's least expected.
Those teaser previews HBO's been airing before Game of Thrones recently are a cause for celebration, showing that Lindelof has taken Perrotta's book seriously and is reaching for something vast and powerful. Don't expect Lost die-hards who are still tight about that show's divisive finale to cut Lindelof any slack, though. He's a talented TV mind with a lot to prove. Working with material as potent as The Leftovers, it'll take something catastrophic for him to fail this time. —Matt Barone
The Strain (FX)
Stars: Corey Stoll, David Bradley, Kevin Durand, Mia Maestro, Regina King, Leslie Hope, Jonathan Hyde, Ben Hyland, Richard Sammel, Javier Botet, Natalie Brown, Roger Cross, Sean Astin
Premiere date: July (exact date TBD)
Does the world need another TV series about vampires? Definitely not. For those who enjoy bloodsuckers shows that don't, pun intended, suck, there's The CW's The Vampire Diaries and HBO's True Blood, two long-running and consistently entertaining programs that make it easier to forget that NBC's anemic Dracula ever happened. As of now, though, that lifeless adaptation of Bram Stoker's definitive novel is still in horror fans' minds, and, because of that, new small-screen vamps aren't about to get an easy pass.
FX's The Strain, to its credit, at least comes from a genre icon whom those same horror fans wholeheartedly adore. It's the brainchild of Guillermo del Toro, the acclaimed director of films like Pan's Labyrinth and Pacific Rim and co-author the original The Strain novels. The guy knows how to make vampires work, and with this ambitious and dark thriller series, he's ready to get nasty.
House of Cards alum Corey Stoll heads up The Strain's large ensemble cast, playing a CDC head honcho in New York City tasked with stopping a vamp outbreak after an airplane mysteriously lands at JFK International Airport loaded with 200 dead bodies. Anyone who's read del Toro and co-author Chuck Hogan's novels will tell you, their take on those "creatures of the night" aren't romantic or cutesy. They're akin to 30 Days of Night, hellbent on killing every human in sight. Meaning, you won't be subjected to watching Count Dracula get into kung-fu fights on rooftops. (For shame, NBC.) —Matt Barone
Welcome to Sweden (NBC)
Stars: Greg Poehler, Josephine Bornebusch, Amy Poehler, Lena Olin, Claes Månsson, Illeana Douglas, Patrick Duffy, Christopher Wagelin, Per Svensson
Premiere date: July 10
Let's just break down how awesome this show will be be in a few words: It was created by and stars Amy Poehler's equally funny brother, Greg Poehler; it features guest stars like Amy herself, Aubrey Plaza, Gene Simmons, and Will Ferrell; and it's literally about an American accountant to the stars who moves to Sweden "for love"-specifically, his hot, blonde girlfriend, Emma.
Sound funny yet? Just wait—Welcome to Sweden is based on a true story. Greg actually did move to Sweden for love over a decade ago, and he ended up marrying his girlfriend.
As for the show itself, it's already a hit in Sweden, so there's some basis for its success. And... Well, did we mention both Poehler siblings are in it? ICYMI, everything they touch turns to gold. —Tanya Ghahremani
The Bridge (FX)
Stars: Demián Bichir, Diane Kruger, Annabeth Gish, Thomas M. Wright, Ted Levine, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Emily Rios, Eric Lange
Premiere date: July 7
The Bridge, returning for its second season, follows two seemingly mismatched detectives—Sonya Cross (Diane Kruger) and Marco Ruiz (Demián Bichir)—working along the El Paso/Juárez border, a region that's rife with drug trafficking, illegal immigration, and prostitution. The show's impressive first season revolved around a a double murder that touched upon all of those aforementioned dangers.
What's in store this year? As of now, little is known about where The Bridge is heading, but expect more tension and bloodlust to erupt between Marco and old friend/current killer David Tate (Eric Lange). —Rachel Sheldon
Masters of Sex (Showtime)
Stars: Michael Sheen, Lizzy Caplan, Cailtin Fitzgerald, Teddy Sears, Nicholas D'Agosto, Annaleigh Ashford, Beau Bridges
Premiere date: July 13
Showtime's critically acclaimed and delightfully seductive Masters of Sex was one of 2013's best new shows. Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan star as the real-life duo Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson, who perform their groundbreaking research on human sexuality at Washington University during the 1950s.
The series explores the obstacles that Masters and Johnson face while attempting to research a taboo subject during a sexually repressive time in history. Meanwhile, the challenges presented in their own lives threaten to overwhelm the pair, as they must navigate illicit affairs, disgruntled participants, and their own mutual attraction.
The repercussions of the couple's research will grow in size and severity as they delve even deeper into the inner workings of human sexuality in season two. Also, Sarah Silverman will join the cast, and, presumably, be simultaneously provocative and hilarious. You know, her usual M.O. —Rachel Sheldon
Doctor Who (BBC One)
Stars: Peter Capaldi, Jenna Coleman, Neve McIntosh, Catrin Stewart, Dan Starkey
Premiere date: August (exact date TBD)
Look, you either geek out over BBC One’s Doctor Who, or it’s about as appealing as being locked in a Comic-Con conference room with a bunch of cosplay-loving dudes for hours. Those in the former group love the energetic and seemingly endless sci-fi series for its central hero, the eponymous Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid who traverses around the world in his TARDIS.
But for people who land in the latter category, the next series give you two compelling reasons to hop on the bandwagon. First, the latest actor stepping into Doctor Who’s shoes is Peter Capaldi, who navigated his way around Veep creator Armando Iannucci’s In the Loop (2009) with first-class panache. Although Doctor Who’s language isn’t as vulgar as In the Loop’s, Capaldi’s got enough proven talent to make his Whovian transformation highly intriguing.
The second reason: the first two new Doctor Who episodes were directed by Ben Wheatley, England’s most exciting new filmmaker in years. Wheatley’s Kill List and Sightseers are brilliant pieces of subversive and often shocking genre cinema. If nothing else, his Doctor Who episodes will hopefully expose Wheatley to wider audiences than his films have. —Matt Barone
The Killing (Netflix)
Stars: Mirielle Enos, Joel Kinnaman
Premiere date: August 1
It's Netflix to the rescue. After AMC cancelled it last year, The Killing was given a new, albeit short, lease on life by the streaming service, for one last six-episode season.
In its final season, Detectives Linden (Mirielle Enos) and Holder (Joel Kinnaman) will team up one last time to investigate a murder at an all-boys military school. Get ready for more red herrings, darkly lit cinematography, and, hopefully, a satisfying resolution for a change. —Rachel Sheldon
The Knick (Cinemax)
Stars: Clive Owen, Juliet Rylance, Jeremy Bobb, Andre Holland, Eric Johnson, Cara Seymour, Joseph Scarpino
Premiere date: August 8
Here's hoping that Clive Owen becomes TV's next Matthew McConaughey, and that Cinemax's The Knick is Owen's True Detective. The English actor can certainly use it. Save for the well-reviewed HBO miniseries Hemingway & Gellhorn (2012), Owen's been in a bit of an acting rut, slumming it in crappy action junk (Killer Elite), underwhelming horror (Intruders), and abysmal gangster cinema (Blood Ties). It's tough watching him in those films and accepting that he's the same actor who once starred in badass flicks like Children of Men and Sin City.
It's a very good thing that prolific filmmaker Steven Soderbergh (having made everything from sex, lies, and videotape to Magic Mike) shares that "Stop underachieving, Clive" sentiment. Casting Owen as the lead in his first-ever TV project, The Knick, Soderbergh's giving Owen a great opportunity to right his career's recent wrongs, and based on those cryptic but fascinatingly bleak The Knick teasers, that's a real possibility.
All that's known so far about the show is that Owen plays a surgeon working at New York's Knickerbocker Hospital in the early 1900s. And that there will be blood. That already sounds better than anything Owen's done since 2007's Shoot 'Em Up. —Matt Barone
Outlander (Starz)
Stars: Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe, Tobias Menzies, Graham McTavish, Gary Lewis, Annette Badland, Stephen Walters, Laura Donnelly
Premiere date: August 9
Here's the summer television season's biggest question mark. Per its popular, multi-novel source material, Outlander sounds like it could be the new-age Quantum Leap. Caitronia Balfe stars as Claire Randall, a nurse living in the 1900s who time-travels back to the 18th century and starts an adventure-filled romance with James Fraser (Sam Heughan). A love story engineered for hardcore science fiction buffs, for sure, and one made all the more intriguing by its unknown cast—who knows, the next Nina Dobrev or Alexander Skarsgård might be down with Outlander.
There's a catch, though. Starz, the network that struck gold with the Spartacus franchise but struggled with Boss and Magic City, seems like an odd fit. As seen in Spartacus and this year's dismissible Black Sails, Starz shows are largely identifiable by their rampant sex, T&A, and general sense of reckless hedonism. None of which, upon first impressions, seems right for Outlander's relatively tame premise, except for, perhaps, the "sex" part. Of course there's going to be tons of sex on a Starz original show. Let's not be ridiculous here. —Matt Barone