Summer Mondays are Must-See TV

This summer Monday nights provide a solid three hour block of quality television programming. The sad thing is, according to the ratings last night, it looks like the best Monday night shows aren't getting the ratings they deserve. So I'm going to go through each of these, because the three shows I'm talking about could not be more different from each other, but are all worth checking out - so here's a little more info as to why exactly you should be watching.

Lie to Me
(FOX, 8pm)
I adore this show. I watched the first season over the course of a weekend thanks to a DVD set I just stumbled upon at my apartment (I think one of my boyfriend's roommates had left it with us) and was hooked from the pilot on. Thanks to Hulu I caught up to the second season in time to enjoy a few new episodes before the show took an insanely long hiatus. Last night's summer premiere not only reminded me that I really do love this show, but that it's also a really high quality program.

The conceit of Lie to Me is really interesting - Cal Lightman can read facial expressions, voice cadences, intonations, body language, etc. to determine whether or not a person is lying, and with the help of his team at the Lightman Group, he consults on a variety of open crimes. There's usually two cases per episode, and I find myself instantly interested in this procedural drama more than most, partly because of the clever conceit, but also because Tim Roth plays Dr. Lightman as a very fascinating man. Check out the mid-season/summer premiere, featuring Jason Dohring (Veronica Mars alum!) as an especially creepy suspect.



The Good Guys
(FOX, 9pm)
I'm a huge fan of Burn Notice, and I suppose you could call The Good Guys the sister show, as it also comes from showrunner Matt Nix and features some similarly great action sequences and fun humor. Colin Hanks and Bradley Whitford have an absolutely fantastic dynamic which is probably best summed up by some of their hilarious conversations. For those laughs, I will refer you to this review - it's okay if you haven't watched the show just yet, I think you'll find these exchanges laugh-out-loud funny and pique your interest in this buddy cop action hour-long comedy!

Okay. If anything, watch this show to marvel at Whitford's phenomenal mustache.



Persons Unknown
(NBC, 10pm)
I don't think any show will fill the void that Lost has left, and that's important to consider before you begin watching this sci-fi thriller mystery drama. The thing is, I think this show has the potential to be a surprise hit - it certainly has all the makings of one, and for viewers who are looking for a captivating and intriguing series to obsess over, I think Persons Unknown can be that. I'm not really going to attempt to explain the premise of this show, both because I probably wouldn't do it justice and because I think this is one of those shows where it's actually better to go into it knowing very little.

Or check out this great review of the pilot from The AV Club. Also, I guess they filmed this in Mexico before the country went to shit - so that's cool.



Any other summer shows, new or old you're looking forward to? One of my roommates just got into Royal Pains and I'm considering giving it a try, especially because I think USA has been really nailing their programming slate the past few years (even though I'm not over the moon about Covert Affairs, I will give it a few episodes before I finally make up my mind). Or, is there another night that rivals Mondays for the best Must-See TV? Obviously SYTYCD is a great show, but I'm thinking about scripted TV specifically... sound off in the comments!