Summer TV Watch List

I know what you're thinking: "Who sits inside and watches television in the summer?" But let's be honest here. On more than one occasion, you'll find yourself snuggled up on a couch in front of the television, resisting the allure of the outdoors no matter how warm and beautiful it may be outside. And if you're going to be spending your precious summer days sitting in front of a TV, you might as well make sure that what you're watching is worth your time.

The three television series that I'm following right now -- HBO's Game of Thrones, FX's Fargo, and Showtime's Penny Dreadful -- will wrap up their respective seasons in June, but this summer also holds the promise of several exciting new shows that should be able to hold you over until the fall rolls around, when all of your favorite shows return from hiatus. So let's take a look at a few of the best and brightest this summer has to offer (in my humble opinion, at least).

Halt And Catch Fire. Set in the early 1980's, after the release of the IBM PC signaled the beginning of the computer revolution, Halt And Catch Fire revolves around a former IBM executive who recruits a pair of computer programmers to reverse engineer his previous employer's flagship product and put Cardiff Electric, his current company, on the map. The tumultuous business partnership between Lee Pace's ambitious exec Joe MacMillan and Scoot McNairy's less confident engineer Gordon Clark will no doubt be subject to obvious comparisons with Apple's Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, but any similarities are not unintentional, as the show draws inspiration from other real-life computing pioneers. Lee Pace, who will also star in Marvel's sci-fi romp Guardians of The Galaxy later this summer, returns to the small screen, where he was last seen in ABC's short-lived critical darling Pushing Daisies. With Breaking Bad done and the end of Mad Men on the horizon, AMC will need to replenish its stock of compelling drama series, and Halt And Catch Fire appears to be its most promising new show and a step in the right direction. Halt And Catch Fire was created by Chris Cantwell and Chris Rogers, and stars Lee Pace, Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, Kerry Bishe, and Toby Huss. (Premieres Sunday, June 1st at 9 p.m. on AMC)

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Tyrant. From Gideon Raff, the creator of the Hebrew television series Prisoners of War (the series that served as the inspiration for Showtime's Homeland), comes perhaps one of the riskiest cable television shows of the year. Bassam Al Fayeed is the second son of a Middle Eastern dictator, who fled the fictional nation of Baladi twenty years ago and exiled himself to America, where he now works as a pediatrician in Los Angeles with a wife and two teenage children. When he returns to his homeland for his nephew's wedding, dramatic events transpire that force him and his family to remain in Baladi, resulting in a culture clash of both familial and national politics. Set in the Middle East, with a plot that revolves around elements of Arab culture and politics and not a single name actor among its cast members, Tyrant is a huge gamble for FX, but the network is hopeful that the series will appeal to American audiences that have embraced shows like Homeland and FOX's 24. And with Howard Gordon (Homeland) and Craig Wright being brought on as executive producers to help shepherd the series, you can bet this will be one of the most intriguing shows of the summer. Tyrant was created by Gideon Raff, and stars Adam Rayner, Jennifer Finnigan, Ashraf Barhom, Moran Atias, and Justin Kirk. (Premieres Tuesday, June 24 at 9 p.m. on FX)

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The Leftovers. Two percent of the world's population has vanished in the blink of an eye, in what will come to be called The Sudden Departure. But unlike the Rapture prophesied in the Bible, where all of the true believers ascend to the heavens, this appears to have been a random harvest, with there being no common religious denominator among the missing. Based on the novel by author Tom Perrotta, The Leftovers is about the poor souls left behind, all of them searching for meaning in life after having their belief systems torpedoed by this inexplicable event. The book leaves the true nature of The Sudden Departure open to interpretation, and I'm sure the show will follow suit, choosing instead to focus on how the citizens of the small town of Mapleton try to move forward with their lives. The town's chief of police is our main entry point into this existential crisis, as he copes with a wife who has abandoned her family in favor of a bizarre cult, a son who has fallen under the dubious influence of a self-proclaimed prophet, and a daughter who appears to have lost all motivation to better her station in life. The Leftovers was adapted for television by Damon Lindelof (Lost) and Tom Perrotta, and stars Justin Theroux, Amy Brenneman, Carrie Coon, Christopher Eccleston, Ann Dowd, and Liv Tyler. (Premieres Sunday, June 29 at 9 p.m. on HBO)

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The Strain. Bid farewell to the vampires of Twilight that sparkle in the sunlight and sweep teenage girls off their feet. The vampires of The Strain are here to restore their reputation as creatures to be feared. Based on the trilogy of novels from Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan, who also co-wrote the series pilot, The Strain takes place in New York City, where the Center for Disease Control is called in to investigate the unexplained deaths of everyone onboard a passenger airplane. The epidemiologists tasked with leading the investigation come to realize that this incident is merely a harbinger of the sinister events to come, as an ancient darkness returns to the fold and threatens to consume all of mankind. With this series, FX is hoping to capitalize on the recent resurgence of the horror genre in television and match the success of AMC's surprise hit The Walking Dead, even bringing aboard former Lost showrunner Carlton Cuse to helm the show's writing staff. Be on the lookout for a more in-depth blog post about The Strain later this summer, once we're closer to the show's actual premiere date. The Strain was adapted for television by Guillermo del Toro (Pacific Rim) and Chuck Hogan, and stars Corey Stoll, Mia Maestro, David Bradley, Kevin Durand, Sean Astin, Robert Maillet, and Jonathan Hyde. (Premieres Sunday, July 13 at 9 p.m. on FX)