Summer's best reruns -- really!

June 18, 2007
BY DOUG ELFMAN Television Critic

So you're locked up in your home this summer, and somehow all you care about is TV. Your problem is there's nothing on but reruns. What's a TV-aholic to do?

Well, for starters, you can watch reruns of good shows you never watched. I know most of you haven't seen many of these shows, because their ratings suck.

So since I'm a TV enabler, I've put together my Summer Viewing List of Retreads and Rejects.

Just remember: Bad ratings don't mean a show stinks. They just mean you aren't watching.

MONDAYS: "Everybody Hates Chris" (7 p.m., WGN-Channel 9): Even though Chris Rock tells four-letter-word jokes as a comedian, his "Chris" comedy is the best family show on TV. When "Chris" is a good episode, it's very funny. When it's a bad episode, it's not funny but it's still a fine tale of good-hearted family members doing the right things.

TUESDAYS: "The Gilmore Girls" (7 p.m., WGN-Channel 9): If you're an intellectual who bemoans the dearth of smart characters on TV, this is a show for you. Everyone talks really super fast. Everyone's pretty smart, but unlike "Frasier," this show doesn't make the Thinking Class look like wimpy losers. "Gilmore" has been canceled, so summer reruns are your last chance to catch it on primetime network.

"Veronica Mars" (8 p.m., WGN-Channel 9): This season wasn't "Veronica's" best outing, yet it was still excellent half the time. A Village Voice writer once pegged it correctly as "Chinatown" meets "Heathers." A collegiate detective takes on cases in a neo-noir thriller.

WEDNESDAYS: "South Park" (9 p.m., Comedy Central): You haven't given this show a thought since about 1999, but it's still on, and it remains one of the funniest, most creatively successfully satires around. The quality is high, and so is Towelie.

THURSDAYS: "My Name Is Earl," "30 Rock" and "The Office" (7-9 p.m., WMAQ-Channel 5): The comedies don't mesh well thematically, but this is NBC's funniest lineup in a long time. "30 Rock" is the best show on TV right now. "Earl" had a sporadically funny season. And "The Office" is the future of TV comedy.

"Supernatural" (8 p.m., WGN-Channel 9): This is a fairly well-done horror show about two brothers who go ghost-hunting and such. The storytelling is always decent.

FRIDAYS: "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Law & Order" (8-10 p.m., WMAQ-Channel 5): Each of these shows has seen better seasons. Even so, if you're into straight-up capers like I am, they deliver the goods consistently. If you want to fill out your night, you can start with the 7 p.m. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" reruns on USA network. And TNT is owned by weeknight reruns of "Law & Order."

SUNDAYS: The whole Fox lineup: "The Simpsons" (7 p.m.) was dependable this season, if not fantastic. "The Loop" (6:30, 7:30 and 8:30 p.m.) is a new season of TV's most overlooked comedy, a brilliant take on Chicago nimrods making fun of each other. And "Family Guy" (8 p.m.) made me laugh more than any other show this year.

delfman@suntimes.com