Summer Roundup: What to Watch Before the Fall Season Begins

Summer is always a difficult time for me as my DVR is never as full as it is during the regular season.

And now that summer is coming to a close, it's even harder for me to find shows worth watching. Lately I've found myself loyally recording My Boys, Top Chef, LA Ink, Design Star, Feasting on Asphalt, The Hills, Flipping Out, and Damages.

At first I couldn't decide whether or not I actually liked My Boys, although for some reason I felt like I just had to watch it. This season has brought me to a decision: I like this show. It's nothing out of the ordinary. It doesn't reinvent the wheel. It's just a nice comedy about an endearing group of friends. I find myself actually caring who PJ will bring to Rome with her, and I can't get enough of her guy friends, who remind me of the boys I grew up with.

Top Chef has been a favorite of mine since its inception. It inspires me in the kitchen, touts gourmet, creative, and smart dishes, and always has an eclectic bunch of characters that draw you in every time. I recently took my boyfriend to season one winner Harold Dieterle's restaurant Perilla for his birthday. It was thrilling to finally taste the food he cooked on the show. Perilla was excellent, and now we can't wait for the rest of the "chef-testants" to hurry up and open up their restaurants.

I will never get a tattoo. There's just nothing I can think of that I want stuck on my body for the rest of my life. And I can't picture being a 90-year-old grandma with a tattoo on my body. And yet, I am obsessed with LA Ink. I love Miami Ink (and continue to watch it) and so I couldn't be happier that a second show has been added to the mix. LA Ink brings in many celebrities, as Voltage Tattoo owner Kat Von D (formerly of Miami Ink) seems to know just about everyone. And, the artwork created by Kat, Kim, Hannah and Corey will have you sitting with your jaw dropped each week. Even if you dislike tattoos, the stories told by the people receiving them will fascinate you alone. (As my tattooed boyfriend always says, "I'm so glad this show has taught you to actually appreciate tattoos!")

Design Star is one of the best talent-based reality shows (along with Top Chef). It's impressive that the cast has been up to par with last season's wonderful winner David Bromstad. I'm stoked to see Kim and Todd in the final two, and I really can't decide who I want to win. Kim seems to be able to cater to a wider audience, and is great as a host, but Todd's design work is so creative, and simply cool, that I want him to design every room in my house. Looking forward to the last challenge, so I can make my choice and vote, vote, vote.

If you have ever eaten a meal in your life and haven't watched Feasting on Asphalt, you're making a big mistake. Alton Brown is a food encyclopedia. He knows everything about, well, everything. Besides the fact that he makes you appreciate the best of road food, and what it means for generations of one family to continue to run the same dining establishment, I have learned so much. I now know why the first supermarket was invented and how to pick my own asparagus. Each week you'll love food even more, and your brain is sure to expand with all the knowledge you'll gain.

The Hills. Need I say more? Fine, I will, but if you are a female who hasn't yet entered their mid-30s, you are probably already obsessed with it. There's something to the idea that viewers have gotten to follow star Lauren Conrad since her debut as narrator on the first season of Laguna Beach. Getting to see her transition to The Hills was a thrill for obsessed viewers, but the turn the show has taken lately - seeping into every tabloid - can get even more exciting. While the show is airing, the drama continues. We might watch Lauren and Heidi brawl onscreen, but then we're also privy to their fights as they continue real-time through magazine and radio interviews. It's a treat indeed.

I've always been a Bravo junkie, so DVRing Flipping Out was only a natural progression for me. While it's not one of my favorite Bravo shows (Top Chef, Project Runway, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List and yes, I'll admit it, The Real Housewives of Orange County take the cake on that one), I find myself having to watch it each week. Jeff Lewis is a nutcase, and his staff is equally as bizarre. It's almost like watching a Wile E. Coyote cartoon each week; you just can't wait to see what predicaments the crew will get into.

Last but not least is Damages. When I watched the premiere I thought, "Oh this is interesting, but I'll never watch it again because it's too violent." Well I ended up tuning into the second episode, and I now find myself unable to wait a full week in between episodes. The characters are unique and almost impossible to read. Patty Hewes, played by Glenn Close, is one of the most cunning characters on television, and you can't take anything she says at face value. Promos tell us that next week is the episode where everything starts coming together. We'll finally get some answers as to how we get to the end of the season. We already know what happens, but now we'll learn why. I'm on the edge of my seat ready to find out!

As summer wraps up its final few weeks, tune into these fun shows to get yourself in "good TV mode" as you prepare for the new shows to grace your television screens this fall!