Summer TV preview 2009

Doctor shows

Nurse Jackie
Premieres June 8 on Showtime
Edie Falco stars in this highly anticipated Showtime original series that will hopefully take our minds off of Showtime's lackluster "United States of Tara." Taking a page from "House," Jackie self-medicates on pain pills (she suffers from chronic back pain) while taking care of patients. Irony alert!

The Listener
Premieres June 4 on NBC
Toby Logan is your average, hunky paramedic—oh, and did we mention he's telepathic? Equal parts "The Ghost Whisperer" and "E.R.," this new NBC series promises, "He knows what you're thinking." So think nice thoughts, y'all.

Mental
Premieres May 26 on Fox
It's "House" meets... wait, what's a really crappy show about psychiatrists? Fox's latest medical drama is so by-the-numbers, it's practicaly an arithmetic problem. Does the doctor play a.) by the rules or b.) by his own rules? See "Mental" for the shocking answer!

Royal Pains
Premieres mid-summer
Mark Feuerstein plays Hank Lawson, a former ER doctor who reluctantly takes a job as an on-call physician to wealthy residents of the Hamptons.

Also premiering: Hawthorne (TNT)