Summer TV Shows

The way it used to be in the past, shows would go through their season finales and then summer was here and it was re-run time.  As kids, you'd be out of school, would head out to play and didn't care much.  Now with our sedentary lifestyles and different stations wanting to keep/gain viewers during the 'down' season, lots of stations are taking advantage by launching new seasons of shows during that time.  Below are the ones we're most excited about:

1.  True Blood, HBO season premiere Sunday, June 26th, 9pm.  Last summer we watched all 3 seasons during a few week period and we're all caught up and sucked in.  I didn't think a show about Vampires (and lots of other odd creatures as time went on) would interest me, but it's good stuff.

2.  Breaking Bad, AMC season premiere Sunday, July 17th, 10pm.  This is one of my favorites.  It's been a long off season, over a year I believe due to some delays.  This is about a chemistry teacher than ends up diagnosed with cancer and decides to start manufacturing Meth to come up with $$ to support his family after he's gone.  Lots more crazy stuff happened after that, but have to watch it to find out.  This is another one where we watched all of the episodes during a month or so last summer and I was hooked more so than the wifey, but she got into it also.

3.  Big Brother, CBS premiere Thursday, July 7, 2011 9pm.  This is a big family favorite.  The wifey and I, my sisters and mom all watch it religiously and talk about it in between episodes.  Some years are better than others and it all depends on the cast as to how the show will go.  It can get frustrating when the annoying peeps overextend their welcome .  It isn't rocket science TV, but it's usually entertaining and it's on 3 times a week when most shows aren't new, so it passes the time. 

4.  Royal Pains Season 3 premieres on USA Network on Wednesday, June 29, 2011 9pm.  This is a show about a concierge doctor service in the Hamptons.  He's kinda like a mini-Macgyver/House doctor guy.  Lots of good HD scenery and some mini-sub plots.

5.  Hollywood Treasure, Wednesday, June 1st, 10pm on SyFy.  Show that auctions off Hollywood memorabilia.  Sometimes there are really cool items that go for really high prices.  This one is kinda a filler show.  Good when you're just looking for a quick entertaining brainless show.  Similar to American Pickers, Pawn Stars, etc.

Speaking of which, I couldn't find if/when there will be a new season of Pawn Stars.  Hoping there is one.  Other than those shows, I have a bunch of episodes of recent shows to catch up on such as Parks and Recreation, Modern Family, Cougar Town, Hardcore Pawn, American Pickers and Tosh.O

I'm sure there are some new ones I'm forgetting.  My sister Michelle will be sure to let me know, since she's a self proclaimed TV addict.  Our show tastes don't necessarily overlap for the most part though, but will see if there are any obvious ones I missed.  There were a ton of changes to the new Fall TV lineup, but it's too early to research that. 

Are there any shows that you're into which have new seasons starting sometime between now and this summer that you are looking forward to?  Would love to hear about em...Have a great long weekend!

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Pawn Addiction

If you're like me, you can't get enough pawn! No not porn, pawn! I'm really into the pawn TV shows and the related shows about salvaging items and reselling them. The 6 shows below are on regular rotation on the DVR, check em out if they sound like something you might like.

Pawn Stars - Show takes place at the now world famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop in Vegas. This is all about folks coming in to sell items at their pawn shop. It's cool to see all the neat items people bring in and watch the guys wheel and deal to get a good price.

Hardcore Pawn - This one is Pawn Stars meets Jerry Springer and takes place in the heart of downtown Detroit. This is the down and dirty of the pawn business. Lots of arguments and fighting, even amongst the long time owner and his children that also help run the business. This show is a train wreck, but definitely entertaining.

Auction Hunters - This is my favorite of the storage unit shows. They follow 2 guys that go to Storage Unit auctions. Basically when someone no longer pays their storage unit rent, there is a process where they are auctioned off to the highest bidder. Everyone bidding has 5 minutes to look inside ONLY, they cannot go inside or touch anything, so they're pretty much bidding based only on what they think might be inside boxes or what is in plain view. Very cool to see the cool things they find inside and how much they end up selling them for.

Storage Wars - This is the same concept as Auction Hunters, except that they follow 4 main characters/groups. They all have different personalities and are looking for different types of items from the storage units and they compete heavily for the units. A lot of times they'll bid up the prices of the units even if they don't want them, to make the other guys pay more for them.

American Pickers - This show follows two guys that drive around the country 'picking'. Picking is when you drive around rural areas looking for people that have old items sitting around their property that they could turn around and resell for a profit. Basically like going to a garage sale or antique sale, but there isn't an actual official sale going on. They either get a lead on someone wanting to get rid of some items from their life long collection or they just randomly go up and knock on someone's door asking if they might have any items they want to sell.

Hollywood Treasure - This is a show similar to American Pickers, but it's specific to Hollywood movie/show memorabilia. The company works their leads, trying to get folks that have items part with them for their auctions and they get a cut of the proceeds. Very cool to see some of the items they're able to get and how much they are worth. Some items are estimated to be worth millions and usually the owners won't part with those. They recently had the car from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on there, the main bag that Mary Poppins used in the movie, the original Santa and Rudolph from the old TV show Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, etc.

Check out the links above to find out what channel they are on and when. I have them setup to record on the DVR, so I'm not really sure the exact channel/time, but I enjoy each of them and hope you will too!

Do you have any shows outside of the regular national networks that you enjoy? Please drop a comment below, I could always add another show or two to the list.

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