The summer TV season looms, bringing a little of this, a little of that and a lot of sports.
A lot. Basketball has staked out June 3-19 on ABC; baseball has Saturdays on Fox and Sundays on NBC. And this year, Fox obsesses on soccer’s World Cup, from June 11 to July 19.
Around that, however, there’s room for a modest number of non-reruns, including (shown here” NBC’s “Surviving Earth.”
The streamers will keep pouring out new shows, year-round. (Netflix, for instance, has its promising “Little House on the Prairie” reboot July 9.) But for this overview, we’ll look at the five major broadcast networks.
Most of the big summer shows are back (“America’s Got Talent,” “Big Brother,” “Family Feud,” etc.), except for the troubled “Bachelorette.” Fox started two of the best shows — “The 1% Club” and “MasterChef” — early. Also, PBS has its Sunday dramas, plus lots of documentaries, new and old.
Added to that are three new series. We’ll start there:
NEW SERIES
— “Surviving Earth,” June 11, NBC. This uses special-effects to go back 450 million years. It’s a British-America documentary, as was “The Americas,” the splendid series that will rerun alongside it on Thursdays
— “Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro,” July 13, ABC. A dozen dancers will live together and compete for an open spot on “Dancing With the Stars.” Robert Irwin, this season’s “DWTS” winner, hosts.
— “Nation’s Dumbest,” July 15, Fox. A mixed batch of celebrities — including Carmen Electra, JoJo Siwa, former quarterback Matt Leinert and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang — go through all the complications of school days, from recesses to pop quizzes.
NEW SEASONS OF SCRIPTED SHOWS
— “Patience,” June 14, PBS. The first season had compelling stories about Patience Evans — young, autistic and once burrowed in the police station’s records room. Now she’s back to solve more cirmes.
— “Grantchester,” June 14, PBS. It’s the 11th and final season for this show, which will follow “Patience.” The vicar struggles with relationships with his birth mother and his ex-girlfriend …while solving a new crime weekly.
— “All American,” June 22, CW. It’s the eighth and final season for a show that originally focused on high school football players. This season spans a pivotal week for Jordan, Layla, Coop, K.J., Khalil, Amina and Preach. After the opener, it pauses for two weeks, then returns July 13.
NEW SEASONS OF GAMES AND SUCH
— Fox has already started its summer shows, to make room later for the World Cup. It has “The 1% Club” and “The Quiz With Balls” on Mondays, “Farmer Wants a Wife” and “Bear Grylls is Running Wild” on Tuesdays and “MasterChef ” on Wednesdays,
— “America’s Got Talent” and “Password,” June 2, NBC.
— “American Ninja Warrior,” June 8, NBC.
— “Celebrity Family Feud” amd “Press Your Luck,” July 9, ABC. They’re hosted by Steve Harvey and Elizabeth Banks, respectively.
— “Big Brother,” July 9, CBS. It will aire on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, plus the “Bib Brother: Unlocked” shows on Fridays.
— “Celebrity Who Wants to Br s Millionaire,” July 22, ABC.
— “The Wall,” Aug. 19, NBC.
MUSIC SPECIALS
— Memorial Day weekend offers back-to-back specials. On May 24, PBS’ “National Memorial Day Concert” has tributes, plus music by country stars Alan Jackson, Mickey Guyton and Jamey Johnson, Broadway’s Laura Osnes, gospel’s Blessing Offor and the National Symphony. The next day, CBS has the American Music Awards; Queen Latifah hosts, with music ranging from Keith Urban and Riley Green to Teddy Swims and Maluma.
— Tony Awards, June 7, CBS. We can expect music from Pink (the host), the four nominated musicals (one based on Apple’s witty “Schmigadoon”), the three nominated revivals (“Cats,” “Ragtime” and “Rocky Horror”) and more.
— “CMA Fest,” June 25, ABC. It’s stuffed with country stars.
— “A Capitol Fourth,” July 3, public-TV stations. One night earlier than usual, this has music — including Trace Adkins’ new song, “American Made” — and fireworks above George Washington’s Mount Vernon home.
— The Metropolitan Opera’s “Eugene Onegin,” Aug. 21, PBS.
— Vienna Philharmonic, Aug. 28, PBS. Lorenzo Viotti conducts, with vocals from bass-bariton Bryn Terfel.
EVENTS
— The ESPYs, July 15, ABC, with sports awards.
— “America Made in Virginia: 250 Years Together,” July 4. PBS, from Colonial Williamsburg. We can also expect other 250th-birthday events. NBC annually has the Macy’s fireworks from New York … and this year will link with Peacock to air all 15 baseball games on July 5.
DOCUMENTARY SERIES (on PBS)
— “American Experience,” June 9, with reruns. That starts with Woodstock, then has George H.W. Bush, June 19 and 26; John Kennedy, July 10 and 17; and “Chasing the Moon,” July 24 and 31 and Aug. 7.
— “The American Revolution,” July 3. Ken Burns’ brilliant documentary reruns its first chapter that night, then the other five on July 4.
— “Once Upon a Time in Space,” July 14. It’s a four-week series about people in the space program, from Space Station Mir to commercial spaceflight.
NEW DOCUMENTARIES (on PBS)
— “The Last Twins,” June 15, on the man who shielded dozens of boys from brutal Nazi experiments.
— “Becoming Katharine Graham,” June 16, on the longtime Washington Post publisher.
— “Declarations: Black Americans and the Revolutionary War,” June 29.
— “The American Southwest,” July 8, journeying down the Colorado River, with abundant wildlife along the way.
— “Flood,” July 13. A filmmaker tries to re-connect with her father, the only evangelical in the family.
— “Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World,” Aug. 25. Emerging from childhood pain, Oliver became an award-winning and top-selling poet.