Summer TV sizzles with mysteries, sci-fi

"Human kind/ Cannot bear very much reality," wrote T.S. Eliot in "Burnt Norton," and we can only hope that television executives will take the hint eventually.

Not to worry. While there's too much "reality TV" all over, this summer is unusually rich in original programming. In fact, the networks' lazy days of reruns may be fading out.

"Historically, the networks have never used the summer to launch new shows except for some rare occasions," says Marc Berman of Mediaweek.com, which reports daily on ratings and TV news. One of those exceptions came three years ago, with the launch of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

That instant, albeit temporary, success caused network executives and advertisers to wise up to the fact that – travel and barbecues notwithstanding – plenty of people watch TV when it's hot outside.

As a result, summer is beginning to be its own programming season. Yes, there are still plenty of reruns – and a repeat of a good sitcom is a better option than an inane new game show celebrating nasty temperaments. And cable, which has always programmed more aggressively in summer because there is less competition from broadcast, outdoes the networks once again in supplying good original dramas.

There are at least three exceptional new choices – depending on individual taste.

One of them, while based on the reality genre, is amazingly creative.

Dick Wolf's staggering "drama-mentary," Crime and Punishment (Sundays, NBC, 10-11 p.m.), offers a gripping series of carefully crafted true-life stories looking at the United States legal system.

PBS has several new shows this summer, and the best news among them is the return of Mystery! (Mondays, beginning July 1), with three multiple-part chillers worthy of our attention. On the cable front, the new season of the ultra-cool space-opera Farscape on the Sci Fi Channel (Fridays, 9-10 p.m.) is unexpectedly rivaled by Showtime's Odyssey 5 (Fridays, 10-11 p.m.), an outstanding science-fiction adventure that begins tonight. For sci-fi buffs – or any action-adventure connoisseur – the highly atmospheric and smart "Odyssey 5" is appointment television.

If TV, which is never actually weighty, is supposed to be light in summer, it isn't too much to expect it to be smart, involving, and nontoxic. Good entertainment doesn't have to contribute to contempt for others.

"Crime and Punishment" is likely to attract some controversy. Real trials of accused criminals pose some ethical dilemmas – will the TV show affect appeals, for example? How about the law's presumption of innocence – will viewers presume innocence until the defendant is proven guilty?

But the show evokes more empathy for the families of victims than even the best fictional courtroom series, including "Law & Order," possibly can. And the San Diego prosecutors emerge as the series' true protagonists.

"The families look to the DAs for justice," says co-creator Bill Guttentag. "We're just capturing the events as they unfold. [These families] develop very close relationships with the D.A.s, and the DAs take the cases very seriously – they get emotionally involved and truly care about the victims."

There are three remotely operated cameras in each courtroom, each mounted in a box that looks like a microwave oven. The subjects can't see the cameras move, so there are some very subtle moments captured there, Mr. Guttentag says.

"We want to appeal to an audience, but we also hope we will do some societal good," he says. "We're trying to make a show that is fair, is accurate, and does tell a story well without narration and all of that."

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