A Brief Look at TNT's Summer Programming - Page 2

The show that starts off the night of the 16th at 8pm, Wedding Day, does not. The series is something of a departure for the network as it is a reality show from Mark Burnett. The show, if it came from the right production company, could easily have been named Semi-Extreme Makeover: Wedding Edition, but as it's a Burnett production, it can't get that "Extreme Makeover" tag. The series features two "celebrity" wedding event planner/wedding producers, Alan Dunn and Diann Valentine, who help one lucky and unsuspecting couple get the wedding of their dreams on a weekly basis. The couples are shipped off on vacation (New York City is apparently popular) for a few days as the wedding planners and the couples' friends and families put the whole thing together. Predictably, each show ends with the wedding and reception (MC'ed by our celebrity planners). Essentially, it feels like one is simply watching someone else's wedding video and is none too compelling.

The last new show on the 16th (even if it airs at 9pm, in the middle of the lineup) is the Jada Pinkett Smith starrer Hawthorne, which also happens to be the name of Smith's character. Christina Hawthorne is the Chief Nursing Officer at Richmond Trinity Hospital, has a daughter, and struggles to keep everything together both personally and professionally. The show also stars Michael Vartan (Alias) as Dr. Tom Wakefield, an oncologist, friend, and the hospital's chief of surgery. Though it's always tough to judge a show solely based on the pilot episode, Hawthorne as a character and a show are absorbing enough to have one tune back in for more. Seeing a nursing administrator's perspective on a hospital isn't wholly outside the box, but it's not something routine on television, and Smith is certainly good in it.

TNT's last premiere night is on July 15, and will feature the series premiere of Dark Blue at 10pm with Dylan McDermott, and the second season premiere of Leverage with Timothy Hutton. McDermott plays Carter Shaw, who is in charge of a team of undercover police officers, whereas Hutton plays Nathan Ford, a good guy doing illegal things with a team of thieves in order to help those in need. Look for more on those shows as the premieres approach.

Article Author: Josh Lasser

Josh Lasser, formerly known as "TV and Film Guy," and complete with a Masters Degree in Critical Studies in said areas, gives his opinions on TV, Film, and Entertainment in general. All of which he does in a shameless attempt to try to get paid to do the exact same thing. …

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