Top 8 Summertime Shows to Watch

Have you been frantically checking the 8daysageek website, wondering when there would be a new top 8 list?  Have you been scratching yourself like a meth addict needing a fix, awaiting my completely biased opinions on whatever geeky topic suits my fancy this week?  Well, rest easy…I have decided to once again force my opinions on you in the form of a count-down.  We all know that when the summer begins, good television ends, right?  Wrong, sir!  There is a plethora of great television on during the summer and I’m going to force-feed you my top 8 summertime television programs to keep you from going outside and getting your pasty white nerd-skin all sunburned.  Couch-potatoes rejoice!  Physical activity is overrated!  Let’s get to it…so you can get to watching it…

 

 

broadchurch

#8.  Broadchurch– This British television crime-drama got HUGE ratings when it debuted in England in March.  It stars none other than The Tenth Doctor himself, David Tennant as a detective searching for the killer of a young boy in a coastal British town.  That, in and of itself, is good enough for me…but when I saw that Doctor Who alum and former companion to the eleventh incarnation, Arthur Darvill, also has a role in the series, I was convinced I couldn’t miss this show.  It debuts here in the states on August 7th on BBC America.

 

 

 

orange is the new black

 

#7.  Orange is the New Black– This is yet another Netflix Original series.  Their past ventures into this market have been pretty good.  I particularly enjoyed Kevin Spacey in House of Cards.  This series was created by Weeds alum, Jenji Kohan and is based on the memoir of Piper Kerman.  It centers on a woman sent to federal prison for possessing a suitcase full of drug money for her international drug smuggler and former lover-played by Laura Prepon.  She is sentenced to a fifteen month stay and the dramedy ensues.  Piper is played by Taylor Schilling and besides the aforementioned Prepon, Jason Biggs also has a role as well as the captain of Starship Voyager, Kate Mulgrew.  All 13 episodes are available on Netflix as of yesterday, July 11th.

 

 

 

burn notice

 

#6.  Burn Notice– Our favorite burned spy has returned for his seventh and final season on the USA Network hit show.  Last season, Michael made a shady deal with the CIA after murdering his mentor, in an attempt to stay out of trouble and save his friends and mother from the same.  Season seven finds Michael, nine months later, working deep cover in the Dominican Republic and ingesting copious sums of alcohol while attempting to get close to the CIA target he has been assigned to bring down.  His friends have moved on and his mother is now taking care of his deceased brother’s son.  Will Michael set things straight before season’s end?  Will he and Fiona end up together despite her having found a new beau?  Who will live and who will not?  Five episodes have already aired of the thirteen scheduled.  Tune in on Thursday nights on the USA network to see the end to truly great original series.

 

 

 

suits

 

#5.  Suits– Speaking of USA Network original series…this is my new favorite.  It follows Mike Ross an associate at Pearson-Hardman (now Pearson-Darby) law firm.  He attained the position without the benefit of a law degree after stumbling in to an interview with one of the firm’s most successful members, Harvey Specter.  Last season’s finale showed us Harvey and Jessica disagreeing over the decision to merge with another firm.  Culminating in Jessica showing her dominance as senior partner and putting Harvey in his place.  All the while, Mike has finally revealed his secret to Rachel, his on-again off –again love interest.  Will Harvey leave the firm?  Will Rachel keep Mike’s secret?  Find out when season 3 debuts on USA on July 16th.

 

 

 

under the dome

 

#4.  Under the Dome- This is a science fiction horror series adapted from the Stephen King novel of the same name.  It’s about a small town that mysteriously ends up trapped beneath an impenetrable dome.  Yes…that is slightly similar to the plot of The Simpsons Movie, but rest assured this is no Fox Sunday night cartoon.  Plus, South Park taught us all a long time ago that “the Simpsons already did it.”  The town begins to self-destruct as a group of residents struggle to keep the peace and uncover exactly why they are trapped under a friggin’ dome!  It is scheduled for 13 episodes, but with the ratings it has been pulling in so far, it is likely to be renewed for another season next summer.  Three episodes have already aired, but you can catch up by watching Monday nights on CBS.

 

 

 

breaking bad

 

#3.  Breaking Bad- I’m going to be honest here…I have not watched this series.  I know, I know, it’s a travesty.  I started way back in season one…and didn’t make it past the first four or five episodes.  However, I fully believe when I am told that the show got AMAZING.  I won’t personally be watching the last eight episodes of its fifth and final season because I’m waiting for them to all appear on Netflix.  Then, I promise I will catch up.  However, if you are up to speed on the meth-dealing teacher and his former student cohort, then by all means tune in.  The final eight episodes of the show debut August 11th on AMC.

 

 

 

newsroom

 

#2.  Newsroom- This Aaron Sorkin show centering on fictitious 24-hour news channel ACN, is nothing short of fantastic.  When it debuted I was not particularly keen to even give it a try.  Yet, on the advice from our humble Editor-in-Chief, I did so…and was enthralled.  Jeff Daniels as anchorman Will McAvoy is brilliant.  The story-lines follow real-life news items and how they are handled within the walls of the ACN studios.  The dialogue is pithy and I have been waiting nearly a year for its return to television.  That wait will end Sunday night on HBO.

 

 

Finally, we have come to my number one summertime television show to watch.  You better get on it quick because the season has already started…and this is it for the series.  Two episodes have already aired for its eighth and final season.  It has been nominated for TWENTY FIVE primetime Emmys and has won four of those.  Speculation abounded as to whether or not this would be its final season and we were finally informed that indeed it would be the last season we get to follow everyone’s favorite serial killer…

 

 

dexter2

 

#1.  Dexter– The final season of Dexter will find his sister Deb struggling with her actions in the season 7 finale.  She’s quit the Miami Metro police force and has turned to drugs and booze to deal with her demons.  Dexter wants nothing more than to save his sister from herself; however, she wants nothing to do with him now that she is aware of his “dark passenger”.  Meanwhile, a neuro-psychiatrist who specializes in psychopaths begins assisting the Miami Metro police force in their current investigation of a serial killer murdering people and scooping out specific bits of their brains.  Dr. Vogel also has a secret of her own.  She has a connection to Dexter’s past that not even he was aware of.  I’m truly hoping for a jaw-dropping finale when the final episode of this hit series airs later this summer.  Tune in Sunday nights on Showtime to see how the loveable serial killer slices his way out of the eighth and final season.

 

 

 

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen!   Those are my top 8 summertime shows to watch.  Now come in from the heat, pop a squat on the couch, and grab your remote.  And the next time someone says there’s nothing good to watch during the summer, you tell ‘em they have no idea what they are missing.  Until next time…allons-y!!

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