Summer TV Series: Shows Starring Men We Love

As summer comes, so does some great original TV programming. Many top tv series coming back and starting up this summer involve cool actors in roles ranging from the tough to the neurotic to the tough and neurotic. Here's a look at some great TV shows coming up this summer and the actors who star in these shows.

Monk. All right, by now, everyone knows the Monk story: he's obsessive, he's compulsive, he's so tuned into the details that he's able to solve crimes no one else can. But even if we know what makes Monk tick (or tic...) it's always fun to watch Tony Shaloub. Add a great supporting cast including Traylor Howard and Ted Levine, and of course Jason Gray-Stanford, and what more do you want. I think last season was one of Monk's best. Let's hope this season is just as good- or better. Monk returns to the USA Network in July.

Psych. How Psyched are you that Psych is returning to follow Monk this summer on USA? I'm psyched. The series stars James Roday as Shawn, a slacker/wiseass whose powers of observation are so unbelievable it's easier for him to just say he's psychic when he solves a murder. Dule Hill is his partner, Gus, who is so much more than a sidekick and often just as funny as he is. Corbin Bernsen is the tough dad who barely ever cuts Shawn any slack. Psych also returns in July.

Brotherhood returns to Showtime. This series about a Providence family tied up in politics and the mob enters its second season. Starring Jason Issacs and Jason Clark, the series delves into the fine line between one brother's political wheeling and dealing and the other brother's underworld activities. Finnoula Flanagan and Annabeth Gish also star. They will be joined by Tony-winner and 2007 Tony nominee Bryan F. O'Byrne as an Irish immigrant who's also 'mobbed up.' If you're still mourning the end of The Sopranos this summer, Brotherhood may not be exactly the same, but, it might help a little.

Rescue Me. Denis Leary and Peter Toland's controversial (marital rape?) post 9-11 FDNY saga continues another season. Tommy Gavin ended last season with his brother dead, after hooking up with his ex-wife - and impregnating her. Plus his whacked out sister got married to one of the other firemen in his house. Lou was going to marry a nun and move to Florida - til he got seasick, and, oh yeah, Sheila, Tommy's cousin-in-law turned girlfriend turned ex-girlfriend tried to burn him alive. Tommy may have figured as a firefighter he'd die in a blaze one day, but I doubt this is what he had in mind. Jennifer Esposito joins the cast as a firefighting female. Susan Sarandon is also slated to return as the older woman who took Franco's daughter away. Should be interesting. The series has been nominated for Emmys in acting and writing in the past. Will this season pack the same heat? Rescue Me is back in June in FX.

As for new shows, look at for Treat Williams on Heartland, a new drama for TNT. The Everwood star, late of Brothers & Sisters, is back as a Nathaniel Grant, a doctor who specializes in transplants. On the personal side, Grant works with his ex-wife. That can't easy. The series hopes to do better in the post-Closer timeslot than its medical predecessor, last year's EMT drama 'Saved' . The series begins in June.

Tyler Perry, creator of Medea and her associated stories, is coming to TBS with a sitcom about the Payne Family. Perry will write and direct episodes of the show.

Another new show comes from David Milch, creator the critically lauded Deadwood. Jon from Cincinatti, despite its Midwestern title, is about a family living on the coast Austin Nichols, also of Deadwood, stars in the title role, as a young man who becomes involved with a "dysfunctional" family. Luis Guzman and Bruce Greenwood also star. Also look for Luke Perry and Ed O'Neil.