Enjoy summer television? Guilty as charged

Summertime and the TV viewing is easy.

Easy as in sit back with a glass of iced tea and enjoy the mindless — and not just a little bit guilty — entertainment.

Well, mostly mindless, anyway.

There are a couple of summer television fare favorites that require heavier viewer lifting. But those are such good shows — we're talking Emmy-winning "Mad Men" and spiritually engrossing "Saving Grace" here — it's worth every extra push up your brain cells have to do.

Don't worry, there's plenty of brain-cell-free programming to please even the laziest of viewers.

And it's all good. Because after a long, wrenching season of overtaxing our brains trying to unravel the complex mysteries of "Lost," getting our cardio from the heart-pumping action on "24" and worrying about what will happen next to desperate chemistry teacher-turned meth-maker on "Breaking Bad," we all could use a little break.

Sure, too much of the TV lineup for summer is made up of truly inane-sounding reality shows. Fodder like "Wipeout" (contestants face a weekly obstacle course from hell) and "Dating in the Dark" (participants date each other without — good grief — being able to see each other), both from ABC, "More to Love" (full-figured dating) from Fox and "NYC Prep" (real-life spoiled brats have their real lives taped) from Bravo.

Look, I'm not proud of everything I watch, but at least I won't be watching any of that ... stuff.

What I will be watching, though, is a bevy of programs from a variety of cable channels. The most summery of the great summery fare began Thursday with the glorious return of "Burn Notice."

This smooth-as-silk show is the TV equivalent of sipping a ice-cold appletini while floating the day away on a cushioned lounge in a sparkling blue pool.

It's absolutely delicious.

Here's a look at that gem and the other returning shows that make up the rest of the best that summer TV has to offer:

• "Burn Notice" — Thursdays, USA Network: Blacklisted spy Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan) is cool, calm and always has yogurt in his Miami fridge as he endeavors to uncover the mystery of how he was booted from the international espionage ranks. This guy has a certain ... um, something. And the scenery is tailor-made for summer viewing.

• "The Next Food Network Star" — premières Sunday, Food Network: Let's face it, I like this show because I like to watch other people do what I can't: cook good food. It's just a bonus when they have to compete against one another while doing it. Each season, the winner gets his or her own show on the Food Network. Last season, two contestants were so endearing, they both ended up with their own programs.

• "Top Chef Masters" — premières Wednesday, Bravo: Look, I've already put my cards on the table with this one. I simply can't begin to describe how excited I am for this interim competition as I await season six of the original "Top Chef."

Again: cooking, food, competition. This one is the top of the heap in that category and, frankly, I'm in love.

• "Saving Grace" — June 16, TNT: Holly Hunter continues to wrestle with her angels and demons in this cop procedural with a heavenly twist. As Grace, Hunter is a police detective on the highway to hell who's on the to-save list of an angel named Earl. She isn't exactly clamoring to turn her life around, of course.

• "Project Runway" — Aug. 20, Lifetime: Before there was "Top Chef" and cooking competitions, there was "Project Runway" and its fashion design competition. The series moves from Bravo to Lifetime, but still brings Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn into our living rooms to give the yay or nay to its couture-istic contestants.