Summer Shows

When I was a kid, summer was for re-runs.  There was never anything good on TV which was fine because we were usually outside playing until quite late at night (we played kickball and dodge ball until the street lights came on and then played flashlight tag until our moms yelled for us to come in -- we must have gone through hundreds of D batteries a summer!). 

Nowadays, most networks have summer replacement shows or start their viewing season a little later in the year so that it carries over to the summer.  For example, Walking Dead season 3 premiered in February, Game of Thrones aired March 31, Long Island Medium aired last night and Breaking Bad Season 5 airs mid-July.  True Blood season 6 starts in June and I also think a Bachelorette is starting soon.  A couple of my favorite shows will be starting back up this summer and I can't wait! Necessary Roughness (USA Network) airs on June 12 with John Stamos joining the cast (whoop! whoop! that Uncle Jesse sure is cute!) http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/05/02/necessary-roughness-john-stamos/.  Falling Skies (TNT) has a big 2-hour season premier on June 9 http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/05/04/falling-skies-capetown-film-festival/
and HBO's Newsroom returns July 14.  My favorite neurotic house flipper returns on July 9 on Bravo (Interior Therapy With Jeff Lewis).  USA is also airing a new show called Graceland on June 6 (it has nothing to do with Elvis); looks pretty good and I'll probably set the DVR. And finally, my husband's favorite show, Pretty Little Liars (ABC Family) season 4 premieres June 11 (just kidding!  One night he walked in the door and asked if the girls and I were watching "Pretty Little Housewives Say Yes to the Dress"). 

The summer is also a great time to catch up on shows or episodes you might have missed (via Hulu or Netflix, something like that).  Summer is actually when I started watching Lost.  I had really wanted to watch when it first aired but missed a couple of shows and thought I'd be too far behind.  ABC re-ran the show, in order, over the summer and we were hooked. 

Falling Skies

I like Star Wars but not Star Trek.  I liked Lost but always felt like I never knew what the hell was going on.  I have no idea who Dr. Who is.  So my family is totally baffled by the fact that I luv, luv, luv Falling Skies on TNT (Sundays @ 8 PM, Central Time).  http://www.fallingskies.com/

I am a history geek through and through and I think that is one of the reasons why I like the show.  The main character, Tom Mason, a former history professor, is trying to hold what's left of his family together after an alien invasion.  The show, now in Season 2, started off in Boston and the survivors refer to themselves as the 2nd Mass.  In the first season, there were a lot of historical military references.  Second season, not so much.  However, if you look closely during certain scenes, there are political slogans, cartoons or grafitti in the background.  This season the survivors were visited by a rogue pilot (named Churchill) who encouraged them to make the journey to Charleston where a larger group of survivors are trying to rebuild the country. 

“It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.”

Patriotism is a major theme of the show.  The rag-tag Resistance started off hunkered down at JFK High School and the mural on the school depicts Lincoln and great moments in American history.  The use of the bulletin board in the school lobby to showcase missing children reminds you of lower Manhattan following the days of 9/11.

Religion is a subconcious topic of the show as well.  Lourdes is assistant to the 2nd Mass's resident doctor (who's really a pediatrician and is sometimes in waaaay over her head) and we've seen Lourdes lead the survivors in prayer.  There is also a character named "Pope."  I like Pope but most viewers don't. 
I've always been a fan of Noah Wylie from his ER days.  Noah Wylie works because he's just a regular guy.  He lost his wife in the invasion and is trying to keep his 3 sons alive (the oldest played lacrosse!).  He's not a jacked-up ex-Marine out for alien blood.  He was handed a gun and will use it to keep his family and the rest of the 2nd Mass safe. I also like Will Patton (Remember the Titans, Armeggedon).  He's great as the gruff, battle-hardened leader of the 2nd Mass.  The actor who plays Ben, Tom's middle son who has some alien issues himself, reminds me of a younger Leonardo DiCaprio.  The aliens are insanely creepy and there have been some genuinely super scary moments. Oh!  and they just got picked up for Season 3.  Whoop!  Whoop!!!