Notes on Pop Culture: What Are You Looking Forward to Seeing This Summer?

Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

The end of the series chronicling the exploits of The Boy Who Lived hits the big screen on July 15, and I plan on enjoying it in the theaters with my Potter-crazed kids, whom my husband and I are taking to Orlando this summer to visit Universal Studios’ the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. (I don’t know who’s more excited about it, them or me.) This is the BIG film to which I’m looking forward to seeing in those slow months, pop culture-wise.

TV-wise, other than Red Sox games, there are a few shows I intend to view this summer. (You can find the summer TV schedule here.)

I’m going to catch the final, gut-wrenching season of Denis Leary’s Rescue Me on FX, which starts on July 12 and will conclude right before the 10th anniversary of 9/11, sure to be a poignant moment for this series which rose from the debris and emotional wreckage of that horrific day.

The subtle and moving Ray Romano/TNT drama Men of a Certain Age returns with the second half of its second season on June 1. I’ve grown to really admire the way the three lead characters depict the disappointment they feel about where they are as they arrive at mid-life and try to figure out whether they should do something about their disappointment or just give in to it.

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The gritty, clever but pretty depressing AMC show Breaking Bad -- about a high school chemistry teacher upending his life and leaping into the crystal meth business after being diagnosed with cancer -- comes back for a fourth season on July 17. If you’re in the mood for dark, brooding drama about the violent underworld of drugs, Breaking Bad fits that bill perfectly.

Speaking of drugs . . . I’ll be setting my DVR to record new episodes of Showtime’s Weeds, which’ll be starting its seventh season on June 27. Though this show has had its ups and downs, I’m intrigued, now that Nancy Botwin has surrendered herself to the authorities, where it’ll go next. Perhaps it’ll enjoy a creative renaissance like Grey’s Anatomy did in its seventh season.

If you’re an Alias/spy genre fan, USA’s Covert Affairs, whose second season starts on June 7, is like Alias-lite. It’s set in D.C., has a light-hearted streak and isn’t excessively complex like some of the other spy shows out there as it follows the journey of Annie Walker, a new CIA agent.

Another item on my pop culture agenda this summer: Watching the first two seasons of CBS' The Mentalist on DVD with my eldest son. We started watching this show together this past winter, about halfway through the third season, culminating with The Mentalist’s fantastic season finale. Now we want to go back and gather some backstory, just me and my eldest boy child.

What movie and/or TV shows are you looking forward to?

Image credit: AMC.