<i>Royal Pains</i> Is Back for the Summer

What a great week for the summer shows on cable! Leading the pack is the series fit for a king, the USA Network's.
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What a great week for the summer shows on cable! Leading the pack is the series fit for a king, the USA Network's Royal Pains. Okay maybe that is a little bit of hyperbole but the show is one of the summer's best. The cast and scriptwriters consistently make a charming hour show that is perfect for summer viewing.

It also helps that the stars of this show have fine tuned their performances to the nth degree. Mark Feuerstein, Pablo Costanzo, Reshma Shetty and Brooke D'Orsay are the core quartet of the show and they bring out the best in each other with Feuerstein leading the way. This is their fifth season and each and every year the cast has gotten more cohesive.

Last year they added Ben Shenkman to the group as Dr. Jeremiah Sacani. This doctor is a genius but his personal skills are limited. Plus he has fallen hard for Divya (Shetty), Hank's (Feuerstein) physician assistant. Divya is oblivious to Jeremiah's longing and it makes for good TV as he tries to get up the nerve to announce his feelings to and for her.

This year they have supposedly killed off Boris Kuester Von Jurg (Campbell Scott), the rich businessman on whose estate "HankMed" is located. Scott was perfect in his role and I don't accept he is dead. I haven't seen the body.

If you are already a fan of Royal Pains then you are elated it has returned for its summer run. If you are not yet a fan of this enjoyable show then you should be.

Also back for the summer is TNT's Major Crimes. This is the spin-off from The Closer and most of the cast with the exception of Kyra Sedgwick have continued in their roles. The star of the show is Mary McDonnell who plays Captain Sharon Raydor. Originally she was Sedgwick's adversary but now she is the heroine of the show. It took a while to win me over but her relationship with the young boy, Rusty (Graham Patrick Martin), whom she has "adopted," showed me her true heart.

I am a big fan now and eagerly anticipate each and every episode. It still has The Closer flavor but is different enough to be exciting.

I also want to mention King & Maxwell which is on TNT immediately following Major Crimes. I am a big fan of the "King & Maxwell" books by David Baldacci so I was inclined to like this show. These are two private eyes who have a lot going for them in the books.

Jon Tenney, who plays King, also played Sedgwick's husband on The Closer so I was ready to see him in a new series. Rebecca Romijn, who plays Maxwell, is an actress who is constantly in search of a hit series. She is beautiful and a competent actress but she has never found that "right" role. Maxwell might be that right role. And of course having Michael O'Keefe as a supporting player ups the odds for success.

I whole heartedly endorse Royal Pains and Major Crimes and I think you ought to give King & Maxwell a look. "Major Crimes" airs Monday nights at 9 on TNT followed by King & Maxwell at 10. Royal Pains airs on the USA Network, Wednesday nights at 9.

Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com

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