No summer vacation for TV as networks air new shows

It took a while, but the networks finally got the message: Build a summer schedule on new programs, and they will come.

And, yet, the TV industry resisted abandoning a programming model of summer schedules dominated by reruns that dates back more than 50 years -- until now.

With the debut of original series on Fox, Bravo and WB, a new summer season begins that promises more original programming than ever -- with some networks heralding it as the start of an unprecedented 52-week television season of new series. Fox is leading the charge and, not surprisingly, the force behind much of the movement is a search for younger demographics, the very audience of 18- to 34-year-old viewers that Fox has courted since its debut in the early 1980s.

Last summer, Fox launched "The O.C.," a California teen drama created by 27-year-old Josh Schwartz. It's now one of the hottest series on TV with an audience of teen and young adult viewers that has advertisers standing in line.

Now, Fox introduces "The Jury," a courtroom drama from Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana ("Homicide: Life on the Street"). It is guaranteed a weekly run through November. Next week comes "Casino," a reality series set in a Las Vegas casino from Mark Burnett, executive producer of "Survivor" and "The Apprentice."

Nor is Fox alone in its pursuit of summer viewers. All the networks and major cable channels are offering original series or starting new seasons of returning series this summer.

Bravo premieres "Blow Out," a new reality series about the opening of a Beverly Hills salon by Hollywood hairstylist Jonathan Antin. It's from the producers of "The Restaurant" and "Big Brother." Meanwhile, on the WB network, "Summerland," a new California youth drama starring Lori Laughlin, moves into the Tuesday night time slot it will hold for the next few months.

As for returning series, "Six Feet Under" rejoins the HBO schedule Sunday for its fourth season, while "Monk" returns to USA June 18 for the start of its third season. Along with HBO's "The Sopranos" and "The Wire," "Six Feet Under" is one of the three best dramas on television; "Monk" is TV's finest sitcom.

While not in that same league, Dick Wolf's reality courtroom series "Crime and Punishment" starts its third season Saturday on NBC.

Many of the series - new and old - are of the reality genre. NBC starts a new season of "Who Wants to Marry My Dad" on June 21, while cable channel TBS the next night debuts "Outback Jack," featuring 12 pampered young women dropped into the Australian outback. What the producers are hoping for with this series (not yet available for preview) is "The Simple Life" meets "Survivor."