Two summer diversions

Necessary Roughness (USA) - I don't know what attracted me to this show in the first place. Maybe because it's not about doctors, lawyers, or cops? I'm not that interested in pro football or psychology either though, which are the two things this does revolve around. But for some reason I kind of find it entertaining.

Callie Thorne (who I've never seen in anything else) is a strong lead as Dr. Dani Santino, a Long Island therapist who finds herself working for the New York Hawks, a fictional pro football team. She's also recently separated from her cheating husband and the mother to two difficult teenagers. Only two episodes have aired but I gather that each week she'll have a new patient while continuing to treat Terrence "TK" King, a player for the Hawks who's basically a loose cannon and also dealing with her family and love life.

My most important question, however, is: when in the world did Marc Blucas get so hot?? I thought he was so blah and boring as Riley on Buffy but here, as the Hawk's trainer, he actually has a personality! Also kind of fantastic: Scott Cohen (Max Medina from Gilmore Girls) as a mysterious Hawks employee whose job it seems is just to fix problems.

Love Bites (ABC) - I loved Becki Newton on Ugly Betty so I was excited when I heard about this show that was supposed to be about two single women. But then I guess it just fell apart in development...Jordana Spiro was supposed to be the second lead but she couldn't commit because of My Boys (which subsequently got cancelled) and then Becki Newton got pregnant. So they tried to retool the show as a sort of anthology series about love and relationships but there was more drama behind the scenes and eventually ABC cut the order and decided to just burn it off in the summer.

I don't really blame them...it tends to be kind of cheesy and not particularly original but I actually do really like the format. Becki Newton as Annie and Greg Grunberg and Constance Zimmer as married couple Judd and Colleen are the only "regulars" and the three segments of each episode tend to be connected to them in some way but it allows for tons of familiar faces as guest stars. So far we've have Michelle Trachtenberg, Kyle Howard, Krysten Ritter, Bret Harrison (Reaper), Jay Harrington (Better Off Ted), Cheryl Hines, Matt Long (Jack & Bobby, Mad Men and the short lived The Deep End), Donald Faison, even Isaiah Mustafa (Old Spice Guy) and Ken Jeong (Community)...it just seemed like a really fun way for TV actors to do a little guest spot.

It really never would have survived during the regular season but it's cute enough that I'm happy that they're at least airing it this summer. Now, somebody get Becki Newton another project!!