Back in the spring, I wrote about the strange phenomenon of having too many good TV shows airing at the same time. The TV business tends to ease back on the throttle in the summertime, but the summer of 2013 was still the busiest I can remember.
We had all of the usual suspects returning (“True Blood,” “Big Brother,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” “Burn Notice”), but we also had Netflix continuing its push into original programming with “Orange Is the New Black” and “Arrested Development” (which debuted Memorial Day weekend), we had the biggest scripted summer hit in forever with CBS’ “Under the Dome” (even though I bailed out after three episodes, and have heard it’s gotten even sillier), had USA launch a new show in “Graceland” (which I haven’t found the time to catch up on yet, even as I’ve also missed chunks of this final “Burn Notice” season), had AMC run two nights of scripted programming at once, had Showtime launch “Ray Donovan” to pair with the final season of “Dexter,” had BBC America debut one of their best imports yet with “Broadchurch,” etc., etc., etc.
It’s not wall-to-wall originals the way the business is going to get starting in mid-late September, but there’s been a lot to keep track of. Some of it’s been great (“Breaking Bad” has been a sensational 3-for-3 so far in its final season), some of it has been awful (“Big Brother” seems to be in a race to decide which racist contestant should win the grand prize), some of it has been uneven (“The Bridge” has some terrific characters but a wobbly plot).
Before everyone heads to the beach to celebrate Labor Day weekend and the end of summer, the HitFix TV team of myself, Dan Fienberg and Liane Bonin wanted to look back at some of the biggest successes and failures (both creative and commercial) of this busy, busy summer season.
Check out the gallery below: