6 new TV shows sure to heat up your summer

Summer doesn't have to be a bummer for TV: The traditional off-season has more new shows than ever. Six to anticipate:

Halt and Catch Fire (AMC, June 1, Sundays at 10 ET/PT). AMC's new series walks like Mad Men and talks likeSilicon Valley — or the dads of the app developers on HBO's comedy. Set in 1983, Fire follows former IBM worker Joe McMillan (Pushing Daisies' Lee Pace) to Texas, where he drags his new employer to get into the PC clone businesswhile trying not to get sued by his old one. "He knows how hard it's going to be to not only make the machine but make people part with their hard-earned dollars to buy it," Pace says of his hard-driving character. "But he's going to make that happen if it kills him." — Jayme Deerwester

Tyrant (FX, June 24, Tuesdays at 10 ET/PT). This political drama centers on the son of a Middle Eastern dictator reluctantly drawn from America back to his troubled country. The region continues to fascinate producer Howard Gordon (Homeland, 24); so does the friction between the man, Barry Al Fayeed (Adam Rayner) and his older brother. "It's really a story about brothers and about family and about power, but against a backdrop that is very relevant in a way that is intriguing. This is a way to put some of the faces and challenges that that part of the world is facing as it transitions, as this political earthquake is happening." — Gary Levin

The Leftovers (HBO, June 29, Sundays at 10 ET/PT). What happens when 2% of the Earth's population disappears? Is it The Rapture, a miracle or something else? HBO's drama, based on Tom Perrotta's best-selling novel, picks up three years after "the departure" and follows police chief and father of two Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux); Laurie (Amy Brenneman), a member of a white-robed cult; and Meg (Liv Tyler), a woman who draws the cult's interest. Executive producers Perrotta and Damon Lindelof (Lost) focus less on the reason behind what happened than on how the characters are coping with their loss. "It's really interesting to not be right in the middle of the catastrophe but to suddenly wake up three years later," Tyler says. "There are so many layers to these people. There's the façade of what they're showing to the world, but most have some sort of thing underneath the surface that's really bonkers." — Bill Keveney

Extant (CBS, July 9, Wednesdays, 9 ET/PT). Oscar winner Halle Berry stars in this mystery thriller about astronaut Molly Woods, who returns to her family after spending a year in space only to discover that her experiences might have a greater impact than she thought. Goran Visnjic plays her husband, John, and Pierce Gagnon, 8, stars as their son. Creator Mickey Fisher says Berry brought "so much of what I'd hoped for in the role, which is strength and soulfulness and intelligence." The series is part family drama and part thriller, with "big scares and big mysteries and some fun, actually." Executive producer Greg Walker agrees. "I think the pace and the urgency heightens during the course of the season. It becomes clearer what happened in space will have a real impact on Earth." --Lorena Blas

The Strain (FX, July 13, Sundays at 10 ET/PT). Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan adapt their hotly pursued vampire trilogy for TV. A Centers for Disease Control team leader (Corey Stoll) investigates a weird viral outbreak after a planeload of dead passengers lands in New York, and a pawn-shop owner, a rat catcher and others cross paths — and might help the cause. Most vampire stories are "of the sparkly, romantic, brooding" variety, who are "more concerned with their love life," says executive producer Carlton Cuse (Lost, Bates Motel). "We're putting a spin on it we hadn't seen." — Gary Levin

Masters of Sex (Showtime, July 13, Sundays at 10 ET/PT). The story of real-life sex researchers William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan) returns for a second season with new characters and "lots of big changes," Sheen says. The esteemed doctor has lost his job, his sex study has been thrown out by his own hospital, and his wife is expecting a baby. "The king has lost his kingdom; he's in exile," Sheen says. " That's something he's not used to." Sarah Silverman, Courtney Vance and Rene Auberjonois join the drama. — Ann Oldenburg