Hamptons is still the star of USA's 'Royal Pains'

"Royal Pains," a rare TV series set in and even filmed in part on Long Island, returns Thursday night (USA, 10), and that long green (still) impossibly rich strip of land from Mecox Bay to Napeague Harbor is the star once again.

The other stars are Mark Feuerstein as Dr. Hank Lawson (seen here with Marcia Gay Harden and Jill Flint) and his brother, Evan (Paulo Costanzo), who run a medical clinic for the wealthy called "HankMed." Any place names offered on Thursday's return? None, but the Hamptons still flows off the screen as much as time and plot will allow.

That lovely aerial shot of a small body of water near the surf? Maybe Fairfield Pond in Sagaponack, or more likely still, Lily Pond. (The show is set in East Hampton.) That long view of a blessedly traffic-free strip of road stretching off into the distance? Who knows? And those vast stone castles with opulent gardens? Portions of the show have been shot at Oheka Castle which -- of course -- isn't even in the East End (but Huntington).