Breaking Bad
Correction Appended: May 21, 2012
The Cure for Reruns
Debuts aren't just for fall
Dallas
Who revived J.R.? We've seen TV remakes (Charlie's Angels) and reimaginings (Battlestar Galactica), but this is more like a restoration of the classic oil-family soap. Many of the same actors and characters return--including J.R. (Larry Hagman), Bobby (Patrick Duffy) and Sue Ellen (Linda Gray)--but the new Dallas also introduces a younger generation of lusty, conniving Ewings and their companions, looking to build their own fortunes on Southfork. Their challenge is the same as the series': to strike black gold twice in the same place. (TNT, premieres 6/13)
The Newsroom
Since his TV hit The West Wing, Aaron Sorkin has written movies about media (The Social Network) and the great American game (Moneyball). Now he's behind a drama about cable news, where media becomes a game. The Newsroom, about a veteran cable anchor (Jeff Daniels) who goes rogue and reinvents his career, has the potential to be Sorkin at his best (fast-paced environment, workaholic wonks) or worst (abundant opportunities for preachy monologues and author-surrogate soapboxing). Either way, expect it to make headlines. (HBO, 6/24)
Anger Management
Yes, Charlie Sheen has drug issues, domestic-violence issues and telling-off-producers-before-having-a-national-media-meltdown issues. But proving that Hollywood believes in forgiveness and redemption--with forgiveness and redemption equaling "bringing in ratings while hopefully not getting arrested again"--Sheen has a new sitcom gig. In Anger Management (based on the 2003 movie) he plays a therapist who helps clients despite, or with the benefit of, his own past rage problems. Say what you want about Sheen, the man does live his work. (FX, 6/28)
Political Animals
Elaine Barrish (Sigourney Weaver) is not Hillary Clinton. She's ... well, taller. Formerly married to a philandering President, Barrish is a Secretary of State appointed by the current President (Adrian Pasdar), who defeated her in the primaries, and finds herself dealing with conflicts outside and within the Administration. (See? Not familiar at all!) With Clinton riding a wave of Internet-meme popularity, the makers of Political Animals probably don't mind any comparisons. Let's just hope Weaver looks as good in sunglasses. (USA, 7/15)
Copper
The first original series from BBC America is possibly one of the most unusual projects airing this summer. Yes, Copper is a cop show, but it's a cop show set in grimy 1860s New York City in the aftermath of the Civil War. This piece of Americana comes to us from the writer-director team of Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson, who surveyed crime of a different era in Baltimore on NBC's Homicide: Life on the Street. Here, Kevin Corcoran (Tom Weston-Jones) investigates crime in the rough Five Points neighborhood with the help of a war buddy and an African-American physician. Is it Deadwood with taller buildings? Gangs of New York with a badge? For now we'll just call it NYPD Sepia. (BBC America, 8/19)
The Perennials
Comebacks to look for
Awkward.