TNT, USA battle for summer rating bragging rights

'The Closer,' which stars Golden Globe winner Kyra Sedgwick, returns for season five this summer as TNT's star television show.

Now that the network year has ended, unless you’re anxious to view the latest installments of Wipeout or I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, the exciting summer television fare resides on cable. USA Network and TNT continually battle for the top spot among basic cable outlets, and each has some strong new shows whose new seasons get underway in the next few days.

USA Network’s Burn Notice begins its third season Thursday night at the new time of 8 p.m. This year former spy Michael Westin (Jeffrey Donovan) must face the ramifications of the decision he made at the end of last season, when he decided to reject the offer from his former employers to once again work for them. This year he’ll face not only the usual obstacles he encounters in working freelance on behalf of others, he now may also occasional problems posed by the people who already burned (fired) him.

USA is also using Burn Notice to help it launch a new show that same night. Royal Pains at 9 p.m. stars Mark Feuerstein and Paulo Costanzo as brothers now involved in the world of private medicine in the Hamptons. Hank (Feuerstein) was once deemed the next big star at a big-city hospital, until a combination of medical and political events cost him his job. Now his brother Evan (Costanzo) offers him a new opportunity, one that sounds too good to be true (and of course it is).

Hank can become a “concierge doctor,” treating the medical ailments of ultra-rich types in the Hamptons for the summer. It’s a chance to make a lot of easy money quickly, and Hank decides to take the chance. The misadventures of these brothers comprise the storylines for Royal Pains. Jill Flint, two-time Tony Award winner Christine Ebersole and Campbell Scott are others with regular or recurring roles in Royal Pains.

With Monk slated to end after this summer, Burn Notice is poised to replace it as USA Network’s flagship show. Wisely they’ve made no alterations in the core cast, as Gabrielle Anwar and Bruce Campbell return as Donovan’s unorthodox but always able helpers, and Sharon Gless as his always-unpredictable mother.

TNT’s The Closer, cable’s No. 1 ad-supported show of all time, returns for season five Monday number at 8 p.m. There are major changes this year, most notably the marriage of Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson (Golden Globe winner Kyra Sedgwick) and FBI Special Agent Fritz Howard (Jon Tenney), though that union won’t solve the frequent jurisdictional problems that occur due to the nature of their jobs.

The first episode features a powerful and disturbing multiple murder case that hinges on a key mistake and has a shocking ending.

But as always, the key to The Closer remains Sedgwick’s great portrayal as the show’s lead figure and the closeness of a tight cast that includes Tony Denison, G.W. Bailey, Michael Paul Chan, Raymond Cruz, J. K. Simmons, Robert Gossett and Phillip P. Keene. There will be further changes coming in future shows, something designed to keep The Closer sizable audience guessing all through the summer.

Though Steven Bochco’s Raising the Bar didn’t always excel through its first season in the manner of the spectacular pilot episode, there were signs near the end of it rounding into form. The second year begins Monday night at 9 p.m., and there are also some different things on its horizon. One includes a makeover for star Mark-Paul Gosselaar, while another concerns the changes caused by new judge Albert Farnsworth (John Michael Higgins).

The opening episodes include a powerful but also rather ugly hate crime case that forces some controversial political issues to the forefront, and another that will see potential relationship changes in the lives of both prosecutors and defense attorneys. Gloria Reuben, Jane Kaczmarek, Natalia Cigliuti, Melissa Sagemiller, J. August Richards, Teddy Sears, Currie Graham and Jonathan Scarfe are other key cast members in Raising the Bar.

New WNPT documentary

Whether you’ve lived in Music City for decades or recently arrived, the comprehensive new documentary Nashville: The 20th Century in Photographs, Vol. 1 will prove valuable. Directed and produced by Justin Harvey, the documentary covers changes in the Nashville landscape from the start of the 20th century to the beginning of World War II. Some sights that are covered include the openings of Union Square and The Arcade, plus sites of electric streetcars and the fashions of men and women during that period.

Nashville: The 20th Century in Photographs, Vol. 1 airs Thursday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9:30 a.m. on WNPT-8.