What's on: TV premieres are popping up all over

With summer heating up, it’s another great month for new shows that will satisfy your craving for something different.  Here are just a few picks you might want to sample.

• My Dysfunctional Family — Saturdays at 11pm on CMT:

In this new series, self-taught, school-of-hard-knocks family-fixer Dave Vitalli comes to the rescue of desperate parents who have reached the end of their ropes with their teenage children. 

What does it take to repair a family that seems to be broken beyond hope? 

Vitalli’s own brand of tough love has helped hundreds of families recover from crisis in his many appearances on the syndicated TV show Maury. Now he tackles a new set of family issues each week, from addiction to abandonment, putting the parents under as much scrutiny as the teens and demonstrating that the apple usually doesn’t fall far from the tree.     

• Leah Remini: It’s All Relative — premieres Thursday, July 10 at 11pm on TLC:

If you enjoyed actress Leah Remini in her role as the hilarious, no-nonsense wife on The King of Queens, you’ll want to see her in her own new reality show. In real-life we’ll meet her husband of 10 years, Angelo,  and precocious nine-year-old daughter, Sofia, as well as a host of other eccentric family members and a British nanny. 

What is life really like for a charismatic star like Remini living in Los Angeles, juggling career, family and fame? Don’t worry, she hasn’t lost her Brooklyn roots. The family is running a diner, and the house is full of life and general craziness.

• Underground BBQ Challenge — Premieres Tuesday, July 15 at 10pm on Travel Channel:

Travel Channel’s We are Summer Extravaganza includes a line-up of four new shows that will debut this summer. 

Among the new productions Underground BBQ Challenge pits neighbourhood against neighbourhood around America in an epic grilling challenge. Hosted by renowned chef G Garvin, the series gives two teams of grill masters a chance to represent their towns with the most delicious and creatively prepared and presented dish in their repertoire. 

The challenge ends with the winning team taking home a $10,000 prize.  

• Rush —  Premieres Thursday,  July 17 at 10pm on USA:

In this new medical drama series,  film actor Tom Ellis (Buffalo Soldiers, Miss Conception) plays renegade physician Dr William P. Rush. 

No ordinary on-call doctor, Rush is not attached to any hospital, and discretion is his middle name. Working strictly on a cash basis, he caters to a clientele of wealthy Los Angeles celebrities and other elites who tend to party too hard and end up needing his help, though he’s right in the thick of their lifestyle. It seems as if nothing could make him change his ways until he encounters an old flame and his conscience is re-awakened.

• Soundclash — Premieres Wednesday, July 23 at 10pm on VH1:

Brace yourself for a new live music show produced by Questlove and hosted by Diplo, the DJ who has produced for Beyonce and M.I.A.

Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson is of course renowned for his Tonight Show house band, The Roots, a group that has released 14 albums and each week backs some of entertainment’s biggest names. Producing this new television concert series for VH1, Questlove takes three diverse artists at varying levels of fame and puts them on the same stage, at the same time. 

They must give impromptu performances of their current hits, covers and more in front of a live audience. The first episode of Soundclash will feature Fall Out Boy, Lil Wayne and London Grammar. 

Episode 2 will put Ed Sheeran, Sia, and up-and-coming rockers Grouplove on the same stage together. Expect spontaneous moments of collaborative genius.

Lots more new shows await you this month, so why not be bold and go where your viewing tastes have not taken you before? See you here next month.