It's summertime and the viewing is easy.
Or maybe not so easy. Summer TV schedules have become baffling. Remember when summer was full of reruns and low-rent fillers such as The Ken Berry WOW Show and The Hudson Brothers Show? Those simple days are long gone.
Hardly a day goes by that I don't get a half dozen emails asking, "Can you tell me when [fill in the blank] is going to be back? It was our very favorite."
And, of course, there's the obligatory daily email or two asking when Longmire will be return. Answer: A&E canceled it. Netflix picked it up. There is no debut date yet.
Pre-emptive strike: The highly anticipated Walking Dead semi-prequel Fear the Walking Dead, "premieres this summer, with a second season airing in 2016," according to AMC. That's all we know.
Meanwhile, here's a roundup of some of what's available over this summer.
ALREADY AIRING
• Wayward Pines, 8 p.m. Thursday, Fox. Matt Dillon is an FBI agent in a Twin Peaks-ish town.
• Halt and Catch Fire, 9 p.m. Sunday, AMC. More fascinating drama from the early days of personal computers.
• So You Think You Can Dance, 7 p.m. Monday, Fox. Paula Abdul, Nigel Lythgoe and Jason Derulo judge Season 12.
• UnReal, 9 p.m. Monday, Lifetime. Scripted series peeks backstage at a dating show with Shiri Appleby (Roswell).
• Royal Pains, 9 p.m. Tuesday, USA. Return to the Hamptons for Season 7.
• Sense8. Currently streaming on Netflix. Eight mentally connected strangers are being hunted. Stars Naveen Andrews, Daryl Hannah and Joe Pantoliano.
• Power, 8 p.m. Saturday, Starz. Season 2 for Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's drug-scene drama.
• The Whispers, 9 p.m. Monday, ABC. Someone -- or something -- is manipulating the children. Produced by Steven Spielberg.
• Hannibal, 9 p.m. Thursday, NBC. Gillian Anderson joins the cast as a regular in Season 3.
COMING SOON
• The Seventies, 8 p.m. Thursday, CNN. Eight-part original series from Tom Hanks examines the seminal decade.
• Orange Is the New Black (streaming Friday from Netflix). Season 3 has 14 episodes. Season 4 has been ordered.
• Tyrant, 9 p.m. June 16, FX. Season 2 of the political drama set in the Middle East.
• Proof, 9 p.m. June 16, TNT. Jennifer Beals is a surgeon searching for life after death.
• Clipped, 9 p.m. June 16, TBS. Humor in the barbershop featuring Ashley Tisdale.
• The Astronaut Wives Club, 7 p.m. June 18, ABC. The Right Stuff wives of the '60s.
• Complications, 8 p.m. June 18, USA. Doctor's life is disrupted when he intervenes in a drive-by shooting.
• The Last Ship, 8 p.m. June 21, TNT. Our Navy boys try to circulate the cure in a post-pandemic world.
• True Detective, 8 p.m. June 21, HBO. New crime, new stars for Season 2. With Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams.
• Ballers, 9 p.m. June 21, HBO. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as a retired football great mentoring current superstars.
• The Brink, 9:30 p.m. June 21, HBO. Political comedy/drama with Jack Black, Tim Robbins.
• Big Brother, 7 p.m. June 24, CBS. Attention, voyeurs. Your show is back.
• Under the Dome, 8 p.m. June 25, CBS. Marg Helgenberger is on board for Season 3.
• Graceland, 9 p.m. June 25, USA. Season 3 and Elvis is still nowhere in sight.
• Humans, 8 p.m. June 28 at 9, AMC. We get almost-human robot servants. William Hurt finds out that can be bad.
• Falling Skies, 9 p.m. June 28, TNT. Fifth and final season for Us vs. Aliens.
• Teen Wolf, 9 p.m. June 29-30, MTV. Two-part premiere for Season 5.
• Zoo, 8 p.m. June 30, CBS. When animals attack. Based on the James Patterson sci-fi novel.
• Scream, 9 p.m. June 30, MTV. TV version of the slasher film series. Enjoy.
• Shark Week, July 5-12, Discovery. The annual event that won't die.
• Masters of Sex, 9 p.m. July 12, Showtime. The big '60s sex study is unveiled in Season 3. Josh Charles (The Good Wife) joins the series.
• Ray Donovan, 8 p.m. July 12. Showtime. Liev Schreiber's still the fixer in Season 3.
• Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll, 9 p.m. July 16, FX. Series creator Denis Leary is a hard-partying '90s rocker trying to reunite the band.
• Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, 8 p.m. July 22, Syfy. The Hoff. 'Nuff said.
• Public Morals, 9 p.m. Aug. 25, TNT. New York cops vs. the Irish mob.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:
mstorey@arkansasonline.com
Style on 06/09/2015