USA Announces New and Returning Shows Premiere Dates

Now that the traditional TV season of starting shows in the Fall and then having to watch reruns all Summer is pretty much gone for good, networks are debuting new shows and bringin back old ones pretty much anytime of the year. Case in point is USA Networks announcement of new and returning shows debuting this Summer.

Among the shows debuting or returning to the newtok over the next fews months are the brand new Covert Affairs featuring Piper Perabo, Christopher Goram and Heroes alum Sendhil Ramamurthy. Returining shows include Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Royal Pains, In Plain Sight, Burn Notice, White Collar and Psych.

For a full description of the shows and their respective return or premiere dates, check out all the info from this official USA press release:

MARCH

LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT (RETURNING SERIES)
Season nine of LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT gets underway March 30th as we say goodbye to old friends and welcome new faces to the Major Case Squad. LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT stars Emmy nominee Jeff Goldblum as Detective Zach Nichols and SAG nominee Saffron Burrows (“Boston Legal,” “Troy”) as Detective Serena Stevens. Burrows plays a highly educated, worldly single parent with a broad range of life experiences to draw upon in solving even the toughest of cases. Teamed with Detective Zach Nichols, they create a partnership of challenging intellect and street-smart savvy. Dick Wolf’s third installment in the “Law & Order” franchise follows the Major Case Squad as it investigates high profile crimes.

The cases often revolve around homicides, serial killers, VIPs, government officials and figureheads from the business and creative worlds. Unlike other procedural dramas, CRIMINAL INTENT focuses on the criminal psyche. Academy Award nominee Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (“Without a Trace”) steps into the role of Captain Zoe Callas after an action-packed two-part series premiere. The exciting guest line-up for season nine includes Dan Lauria (“The Wonder Years”), Ralph Macchio (“The Karate Kid”), Dan Butler (“Frasier,”) Tracy Pollan (“Law & Order: SVU”) and William Mapother (“Lost”). LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT is executive produced by Dick Wolf, Peter Jankowski and Walon Green who also serves as showrunner. The show comes from Wolf Films and Universal Cable Productions.

Premieres Tuesday, March 30 at 10/9c

IN PLAIN SIGHT (RETURNING SERIES)
The most-watched series on basic cable Sundays in 2009 returns on March 31. IN PLAIN SIGHT stars Mary McCormack as Mary Shannon, a U.S. Marshal working in the highly secretive witness protection program (WITSEC). Her job is to relocate Federal Witnesses, some of whom are career criminals, and some of whom are innocents who had the misfortune of witnessing a crime. But they all have one thing in common – someone wants them dead.

Mary’s job is to make sure this doesn’t happen, while at the same time dealing with her own dysfunctional family. IN PLAIN SIGHT also stars Frederick Weller, Nichole Hiltz and Paul Ben-Victor, along with returning guest-stars Lesley Ann Warren, Cristian de la Fuente, and Joshua Malina. Oscar, Emmy and Grammy winner Rita Moreno (“Cane,” “The Guardian”), four-time Emmy winner Allison Janney (“The West Wing,” “Juno”), Steven Weber (“Wings,” “Studio 60”), Tess Harper (“No Country for Old Men,” “Breaking Bad”), Josh Cooke (“Committed,” “Four Kings”) and Donnie Wahlberg (“Boomtown,” “The Sixth Sense”) have also been cast to guest star in season three in the USA Network hit original series. Showrunner John McNamara (“The Fugitive,” “Eyes”) joins the show this year as writer/executive producer, further elevating the show’s narrative drive, production value and design. IN PLAIN SIGHT comes from Universal Cable Productions.

Premieres Wednesday, March 31 at 10/9c

JUNE

BURN NOTICE (RETURNING SERIES)
This sexy smash hit starring Jeffrey Donovan as Michael Westen, a blacklisted spy who finds himself stranded in sun-soaked Miami, returns in June with all-new episodes. The action-packed season four of BURN NOTICE commences with a new counterintelligence expert Jesse Garcia, played by Coby Bell (“Third Watch”), who loves to fight bad guys just as much as Michael does. Heating up the night with our hot undercover agent are Fiona (Gabrielle Anwar), a beautiful ex-IRA operative who also happens to be Michael’s ex-girlfriend; Sam (Bruce Campbell), a washed-up military intelligence contact who keeps an eye on Michael for the Feds; and his mother (Emmy Award-winner Sharon Gless).

BURN NOTICE remains one of the hottest dramas on television and the #1 scripted cable series in P18-49 and P25-54. BURN NOTICE was created, written and executive produced by Matt Nix. Mikkel Bondesen and Jeff Freilich also serve as executive producers. The series comes from Fox Television Studios and Fuse Entertainment.

ROYAL PAINS (RETURNING SERIES)
USA’s hit series, ROYAL PAINS, was the top-ranked new series in cable history, delivering more key demos than the freshman year of any other scripted series in history. The show stars Mark Feuerstein as Hank Lawson who after becoming blacklisted from the medical community revived his career as a “doctor for hire” to the rich, famous and infamous in the Hamptons. In addition to his wealthy patients, Hank treats the town’s less fortunate, and finds himself walking the line between doing well for himself and doing good for others.

The show also stars Paulo Costanzo, Reshma Shetty and Jill Flint. Henry Winkler (“Arrested Development”) joins the cast this season as Eddie R. Lawson, Hank and Evan’s father. ROYAL PAINS is executive produced by Rich Frank, Paul Frank and Jeff Kwatinetz from the newly formed Prospect Park and written and co-executive produced by Andrew Lenchewski. John Rogers and Jace Alexander serve as co-executive producers. ROYAL PAINS is produced by Universal Cable Productions.

JULY

COVERT AFFAIRS (NEW SERIES)
USA’s newest series COVERT AFFAIRS stars Piper Perabo (“Coyote Ugly,” “Beverly Hills Chihuahua”), Christopher Gorham (“Ugly Betty,” “Jake 2.0”) Sendhil Ramamurthy (“Heroes”), , Kari Matchett (“Invasion”) and Anne Dudek (“House,” “Mad Men”), with recurring guest star Peter Gallagher (“The O.C.,” “American Beauty”). COVERT AFFAIRS will premiere with a 90-minute episode followed by 11 one-hour episodes. In COVERT AFFAIRS, we meet Annie Walker (Perabo), a young CIA trainee who is thrust into the inner sanctum of the agency when she is unexpectedly promoted to field operative.

While it appears that she has been plucked from obscurity for her exceptional linguistic skills, there may be something or someone from her past that her CIA bosses are really after. Gorham plays Auggie Anderson, a CIA military intelligence agent, blinded while on assignment, and Annie’s guide in this world of bureaucracy, excitement and intrigue. Dudek plays Annie’s older sister, a married mother of two. Matchett plays Joan, head of the CIA’s Domestic Protection Division and wife of Gallagher’s Arthur, Director of Clandestine Services for the CIA. From Universal Cable Productions, COVERT AFFAIRS is executive produced by Doug Liman (the “Bourne” trilogy, “Heist”) and Dave Bartis (“The O.C.”) through Dutch Oven and written and co-executive produced by Matt Corman (“Deck the Halls”) and Chris Ord (“Deck the Halls”). Tim Matheson (USA’s BURN NOTICE, PSYCH, “Criminal Minds”) directed the pilot.

WHITE COLLAR (RETURNING SERIES)
WHITE COLLAR stars Matt Bomer, Tim DeKay, Tiffani Thiessen, Willie Garson and Sharif Atkins in one of this fall season’s most critically acclaimed dramas about the most unlikely of partnerships between a con artist and an FBI agent. WHITE COLLAR also features James Rebhorn and Diahann Carroll, and Marsha Thomason (“Lost”) re-joins the cast for season two. This exciting crime-caper-drama, which was one of the #1 shows in cable of 2009, will kick off its second season this July with all new cases, more intrigue, more “bromance”…and more Matt Bomer, People Magazine’s “Sexiest Rising Star” of 2009. WHITE COLLAR was created and is executive produced by Jeff Eastin and comes from Fox Television Studios.

PSYCH (RETURNING SERIES)
PSYCH, one of the seven original series that made USA #1 in basic cable for four years in a row and broke all records as the #1 original series premiere in 2006 returns this July. The cult favorite starring James Roday as police consultant Shawn Spencer who solves crimes with powers of observation so acute the precinct detectives think he’s psychic. With the help from his best friend and reluctant sidekick, Gus (Dulé Hill) and his father, Henry (Corbin Bernsen), the guys continue to solve the mysterious and often bizarre crimes of the Santa Barbara Police Department.

Also starring Timothy Omundson, Maggie Lawson and Kirsten Nelson. PSYCH is executive produced by Steve Franks, Kelly Kulchak and Chris Henze, with Universal Cable Productions in association with Tagline Pictures. Mel Damski serves as executive producer and director. Saladin K. Patterson and Bill Callahan are co-executive producers/writers.