As the number of networks, channels and streaming sites has grown, television has become a home to many smaller, niche shows. Summertime always marks a period in the television cycle where many niche shows premiere. Here are a few that just might appeal to you:

“Maron” – May 4

Marc Maron, of the WTF Podcast fame, plays a fictional version of himself on this IFC show. The show will have a lot of comedian guest stars and is a great watch for comedy nerds.

“Royal Pains” – May 18

The final season of “Royal Pains,” a show about a doctor who moves to the Hamptons to work for hire for the super wealthy, plays on USA this summer. Like a few other shows on this list, “Royal Pains” is great summertime TV: lots of leisure, parties and rich people problems.

“All the Way” – May 21

Bryan Cranston plays President Lyndon Johnson in this HBO period piece about the Civil Rights movement. From the looks of the trailer for this movie, Cranston is much shorter than LBJ and wears an overdone face to try to look like him.

“The Bachelorette” – May 23

Jojo Fletcher is your new Bachelorette. Last year’s runner up of “The Bachelor” returns to the series to find love, or whatever it is they find on this show. Another big part of summer television is event viewing, and few reality shows are bigger events than “The Bachelor” or “The Bachelorette.”

“American Ninja Warrior” – June 1

Few shows get you to root and cheer for complete strangers as quickly as this one. There’s just something about watching people conquer this ridiculous course that is so satisfying to watch. This is the year Mt. Midoriyama goes down.

“Uncle Buck” – June 14

Remember the great John Candy movie from the ‘80s? Remember how they’re remaking literally everything? Well here you go.  Mike Epps takes over as Uncle Buck and, depending on how well it does this summer, I could actually see this going on to be a hit.

“Orange is the New Black” – June 17

Everybody’s favorite prison dramady took a little while, but it’s coming back this summer. This will probably be the biggest and most talked about show of the summer for Netflix, if only because it’s already one of its most popular shows.

“Mr. Robot” – July 13

You know when your friend is obsessed with a show and he won’t shut up about it, but you can never remember the name of it or what it’s about? It’s called “Mr. Robot” and it’s about hacktivists and Christian Slater. It’s fun and was one of last year’s best-reviewed shows.

“The Get Down” – Netflix August 12

Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix series looks like Empire set in the 1970s, without the adults and without the fame. The trailer makes it look like it could be the show of the summer, especially if Netflix promotes it enough.

Kyle Stevens is a sophomore advertising major. His column appears weekly in Pulp. You can email him at ksteve03@syr.edu or reach him on Twitter at @kstevs_.

Published on May 1, 2016 at 8:44 pm