Cable heats up for summer with new shows

Look at the TV show titles on these pages. And you still think fall is the tube's big premiere season?

Summer is hot. Maybe not so much for the broadcast networks -- yet -- but cable is charging hard with splashy original scripted series on more nights of the week. No longer is it one hour here or two shows there.

By month's end, USA will boast originals on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, which makes four nights of the week (five, if you count "WWE Monday Night Raw"). TNT will run original drama pairs Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights. ABC Family stakes its claim Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. FX likes Tuesday and Thursday. TBS has its Tyler Perry comedies on Wednesday night, while Syfy will stack three originals on Monday.

Add scripted originals from cablers like HBO, Showtime, Starz, Comedy Central, Cartoon Network, BET, BBC America, Lifetime, Spike, IFC and even TV Land. For every CMT that fails with a sitcom like "Working Class," there's a VH1 stepping up with a scripted romance like "Single Ladies."

Among the summer highlights:

NEW DRAMA AND COMEDY SERIES

FRANKLIN & BASH (TNT drama, already on, Wednesdays, 9 p.m.). Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer pair up as best-bud legal eagles.

TEEN WOLF (MTV drama -- two-part premiere: Sunday at 11 p.m., Monday at 10 p.m.; then Mondays 10 p.m.). High school is tough enough. But becoming a werewolf makes things harder. Can you still play lacrosse? And, OMG, what about hormones? Tyler Posey and Crystal Reed are about to find out.

SWITCHED AT BIRTH (ABC Family drama -- Monday, 9 p.m.). Teens affected by the title trauma learn how the other lives: One is well-to-do, one struggling and deaf. Their mothers are played by Constance Marie and Lea Thompson.

SINGLE LADIES (VH1 romance -- series starts Monday, 9 p.m.). Soap suds: Stacey Dash, LisaRaye McCoy and Charity Shea are Atlantans whose well-laid plans for love and career go melodramatically awry.

THE PROTECTOR (Lifetime drama -- June 12, 10 p.m.). Divorced mother (Ally Walker) juggles caring for her sons and disabled brother with her work as an L.A. homicide detective. Tisha Campbell-Martin and Miguel Ferrer co-star.

THE NINE LIVES OF CHLOE KING (ABC Family drama -- June 14, 9 p.m.). Offbeat teen (Skyler Samuels) discovers she has heightened abilities and may be the sole hope for an ancient race. Amy Pietz plays her single mother.

HAPPILY DIVORCED (TV Land comedy -- June 15, 10:30 p.m.). Fran Drescher adapts her real life: She's a divorced woman still friends with her live-in gay ex-husband (John Michael Higgins).

FALLING SKIES (TNT adventure -- June 19 premiere 9-11 p.m., then Sundays at 10). Noah Wyle turns action hero as aliens invade Earth in this hour from executive producer Steven Spielberg.

COMBAT HOSPITAL (ABC drama -- June 21, 10 p.m.). Kandahar military medical personnel cope with Afghanistan war casualties plus their own personal crises. With Elias Koteas, Michelle Borth, Luke Mably, Deborah Kara Unger.

WILFRED (FX comedy -- June 23, 10 p.m.). Elijah Wood gets advice from his canine neighbor (Jason Gann in a dog suit) in this quirky comedy adapted from an Australian smash.

SUITS (USA drama -- June 23, 10 p.m.). Patrick J. Adams plays a dropout with a photographic memory who's hired to help a Manhattan lawyer (Gabriel Macht). With Gina Torres, Long Islander Rick Hoffman.

STATE OF GEORGIA (ABC Family comedy -- June 29, 8:30 p.m.). Raven-Symone moves to New York seeking show-biz fame with geeky best friend Majandra Delfino. Also features Loretta Devine.

NECESSARY ROUGHNESS (USA drama -- June 29, 10 p.m.) -- Long Island divorcee (Callie Thorne) does psychotherapy for Mehcad Brooks' football player. Inspired by New York Jets' Dr. Donna Dannenfelser, a Commack native.

ALPHAS (Syfy drama -- July 11, 10 p.m.). Ordinary folks with peculiar abilities investigate odd cases of similar activity. David Straithairn leads the team that includes Malik Yoba and Warren Christie.

WEB THERAPY (Showtime comedy -- July 19, 11 p.m.). Lisa Kudrow expands her Web ad-lib shorts about a "self-professed psychotherapist" who treats celebrities in quickie online sessions. Lily Tomlin plays her mom, Victor Garber her husband.

THE LYING GAME (ABC Family drama -- Aug. 15, 9 p.m.). Foster kid and her newly discovered twin sister switch identities. Then sis disappears, amid mystery about their birth mother.

Returning dramas and comedies

SUNDAY "The Glades" (A&E, 10 p.m.)

TUESDAY "White Collar" (USA, 9 p.m.); "Covert Affairs" (USA, 10 p.m.)

JUNE 14 "Pretty Little Liars" (ABC Family, 8 p.m.); "Memphis Beat" (TNT, 9 p.m.); "HawthoRNe" (TNT, 10 p.m.)

JUNE 15 "Hot in Cleveland" (TV Land, 10 p.m.)

JUNE 19 "Drop Dead Diva" (Lifetime, 9 p.m.)

JUNE 23 "Futurama" (Comedy Central, 10 p.m.); "Burn Notice" (USA, 9 p.m.); "Rookie Blue" (ABC, 10 p.m.); "Louie" (FX, 10:30 p.m.)

JUNE 26 "True Blood" (HBO, 9 p.m.); "Leverage" (TNT, 9 p.m.)

JUNE 27 "Weeds" (Showtime, 10 p.m.); "The Big C" (Showtime, 10:30 p.m.)

JUNE 29 "Melissa & Joey" (ABC Family, 8 p.m.); "Royal Pains" (USA, 9 p.m.)

JULY 8 "Torchwood" (Starz)

JULY 10 "Curb Your Enthusiasm" (HBO)

JULY 11 "Eureka" (Syfy); "Warehouse 13" (Syfy); "The Closer" (TNT); "Rizzoli & Isles" (TNT)

JULY 13 "Rescue Me" (FX); "Damages" (DirecTV)

JULY 15 "Haven" (Syfy)

JULY 17 "Breaking Bad" (AMC)

JULY 24 "Entourage" (HBO)

UNSCRIPTED -- NEW SHOWS

"Finding Bigfoot" (Animal Planet, Sunday at 10 p.m.)

"The Laura Berman Show" (OWN, Monday at 10 p.m.)

"Ridiculousness" (MTV, June 9 at 10 p.m.)

"Finding Sarah" (OWN, June 12 at 9 p.m.)

"The Glee Project" (Oxygen, June 12 at 9 p.m.)

"Ice Loves Coco" (E!, June 12 at 10:30 p.m.)

"Rocco's Dinner Party" (Bravo, June 15 at 11 p.m.)

"Paranormal Challenge" (Travel, June 17 at 9 p.m.)

Visionaries: Inside the Creative Mind" (OWN, June 17 at 10 p.m.)

"Ryan & Tatum: The O'Neals" (OWN, June 19 at 10 p.m.)

"Staten Island Cakes" (WE, June 21 at 9 p.m.)

"101 Ways to Leave a Game Show" (ABC, June 21 at 9 p.m.)

"Cee Lo Green: Talking to Strangers" (Fuse, June 22 at TKTK p.m.)

"Expedition: Impossible" (ABC, June 23 at 9 p.m.)

"Rhett & Link: Commercial Kings" (IFC, June 24 at 10 p.m.)

"Love in the Wild" (NBC, June 29, 10 p.m.)

"Legend Quest" (Syfy, July 13)

"Run My Makeover" (HGTV, July 20)

"Same Name" (CBS, July 24)

"Take the Money and Run" (ABC, Aug. 2)

"Born to Dance: LaurieAnn Gibson" (BET, Aug. 2)

"Whisker Wars" (IFC, Aug. 5)

UNSCRIPTED -- RETURNING

"Ice Road Truckers" (History, Sunday at 9 p.m.)

"Food Network Star" (Food, Sunday at 9 p.m.)

"The Real L Word" (Showtime, Sunday at 10 p.m.)

"Masterchef" (Fox, Monday at 8 p.m.)

"Locked Up Abroad" (NatGeo, Wednesday at 10 p.m.)

"Keeping Up With the Kardashians" (E!, June 12 at 10 p.m.)

"Cupcake Wars" (Food, June 14 at 8 p.m.)

"Gene Simmons Family Jewels" (A&E, June 14 at 10 p.m.)

"Countdown With Keith Olbermann" (Current, June 20 at 8 p.m.)

"Hoarders" (A&E, June 20 at 9 p.m.)

"Intervention" (A&E, June 20 at 10 p.m.)

"History Detectives" (PBS/13, June 21 at 8 p.m.)

"Wipeout" (ABC, June 21 preview at 8 p.m., then June 23 at 8 p.m.)

"The Marriage Ref" (NBC, June 26 at 10 p.m.)

"Celebrity Rehab" (VH1, June 29 at 10 p.m.)

"Teen Mom" (MTV, July 5)

"Big Brother" (CBS, July 7)

"Design Star" (HGTV, July 11)

"Who the Bleep Did I Marry?" (ID, July 13)

"The Green Room" (Showtime, July 14)

"Ghost Hunters International" (Syfy, July 15)

"Hell's Kitchen" (Fox, July 19)

"Shark Week" (Discovery, begins July 31)

"Bachelor Pad" (ABC, Aug. 8)