Back again ... again

I used to look forward to the summer for one thing, really. Not the heat, certainly, and not getting out of school, seeing as how I haven't done that in, gasp, 11 years.

What I looked forward to, rather, was a little break in my obsessive TV watching. Don't get me wrong: I love my TV(s), especially these days, in the midst of this renaissance of creativity. But that's the problem: That boost of quality is running over into the summer. Simply put, there's too damn many shows to watch even in the dog days.

Granted, I'm watching far less right now than I will be come September. Exponentially less, probably, what with the huge crop of promising shows in the fall. But heck: I'm even watching two shows on Fridays. That rarely happens in the fall.

Here's the breakdown:

Monday:

• The Closer (8 p.m. CT, TNT): I'm not usually one for cop shows anymore, but I love me some Kyra Sedgwick, even with a slightly too-honeyed Southern accent. The mysteries aren't ever all that hard to solve -- especially if you figure that the most recognizable guest star is the most likely killer, which is almost always true here -- but they're almost beside the point. The fun comes from watching Chief Brenda Leigh grind the perps down in the interrogation room.
• Tabloid Wars (8 p.m. CT, Bravo): A new timeslot rival, and one I've only caught once so far, but I enjoyed what I saw in this cinema-verite look at the New York Daily News. They seem a lot more idealistic than my former colleagues, so they must not be beaten down as much.
• I tried Kyle XY (7 p.m. CT, ABC Family), Treasure Hunters (8 p.m. CT, NBC) and Saved (9 p.m. CT, TNT), but none of them really kept my interest.

Tuesday:

• Oh gods, am I ashamed to admit this, but I'm hooked on Big Brother All Stars (7 p.m. CT Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, CBS). The show still sucks (BB4 remains the only one I've ever watched start to finish), but there's something moderately addicting about watching these famewhores try for one last walk on the streets. And I just love Evil Dr. Will, even though he's really trying too hard this time to be funny and he hasn't rid himself of that sucking goiter of ickiness that is Mike Boogie.
• I'm much happier to say that I'm throughly addicted to Rock Star: Supernova (8 p.m. CT Tuesday and 7 p.m. CT Wednesday, CBS). I didn't watch its inaugural season last summer, mostly because it grossed me out that they were trying to replace Michael Hutchence of INXS. No dead rock star to replace this time, just a search for a lead singer who can put up with Tommy Lee and who also gets to work with Gilby Clarke (formerly of Guns 'n' Roses) and Jason Newstead (Metallica). My early favorite was Dilana, and she's still far and away the best performer in the group. (Download her performance of "Lithium" here.) She's got a cool attitude, a level head and can wail like a banshee.
• For a few weeks, I got caught back up in Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List (Bravo), mostly to see how she handled displaying her marital troubles (she barely did) and to see her reaction to getting canned from E!'s red carpet coverage (she didn't disappoint).
• Also for several weeks, I was enthralled by Rescue Me (9 p.m. CT, FX), but not when the show went with a double-whammy of BS: Tommy raped his ex-wife so well that she started to enjoy it, and Probie got caught up in a bisexual relationship just so the writers could bust actor Michael Lombardi's balls. I'm still watching it out of inertia, but more and more reluctantly all the time.
• That sums up my feelings for Last Comic Standing (8 p.m. CT, NBC), too. I was pumped to watch it this year because my friend Kristin Key, a former Amarilloan and one of my favorite interview subjects and occasional drinking buddies, made the Top 12. She got shafted a few weeks ago, though, and finished out of the Top 6. I'm still watching, vaguely hoping that Chris Porter will win, but not caring much.
• The busy 8 p.m. timeslot has forced me to miss Eureka (Sci-Fi) twice now, but I hope to catch up with it on a marathon soon.

Wednesday:

• My favorite, favorite, favorite show of the summer is Project Runway (9 p.m. CT, Bravo). I don't know if it'll ever get as good as last year (click here, then on video, then season 2, then find episode 8, clip #4. Believe me, it's worth the trouble.) But I do love Kayne (or Kayne of Many Colors, as they call him on TWoP) because he's a Southern gay boy who loves Dolly Parton and isn't afraid to let anyone know. Robert the Barbie guy seems great, and I can't help but adore neurotic little Bradley. And it's not just the guys who I like: Brittle Laura amuses me, Uli seems pretty cool, and Alison seems wickedly talented. On the other hand, crazy Vincent scares the shit out of me, freaky Angela just doesn't belong, and smug Keith (though cute) is too full of himself -- and not in the good Santino way like last year.
• Morgan Spurlock's 30 Days (9 p.m. CT, FX) recently returned with an interesting show on illegal immigration -- forcing a Minuteman to live with a family of illegals in California. Mostly, the show played fair with both sides, though I read somewhere that the Minuteman now says he didn't soften toward the illegal family as much as he was portrayed to have. I'm feeling reluctant about this year, though, because Spurlock's much-hyped prison stay for the show reportedly ended before the 30 days was up. If the show addresses that, I'll be OK. If not, I may dump it.
• Other than Rock Star's results show, that's it for Wednesdays. I gave America's Got Talent most of a full episode before I bailed, and despite good reviews, I haven't even sampled Fox's So You Think You Can Dance.

More later.