Defamer’s “Top Ten Countdown of TVs Coolest Cats”:

1. Jack Bauer - “24″
2. The Fonz - “Happy Days”
3. Cord Walker - “Walker, Texas Ranger”
4. Will Smith - “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”
5. Don Draper - “Mad Men”
6. Officer Tom Hanson (Jonny Depp) - “21 Jump Street”
7. Hannibal - “A-Team”
8. Dr. Ross (George Clooney) - “ER”
9. Conrad - “Weeds”
10. Parker Lewis - “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose”

The Walker pick is undeniable (he always gets his man!), but I’m not sure that I can back up the rest of their choices. Dr. Ross, Hannibal, and Jack Bauer (sorry, Kiefer) have got to go. Why? Because the grittiest character on there is Don Draper. Don’s got nothing on the folks in “The Wire”. HBO’s B-more crime drama has the coolest cats around in my opinion.

Stringer “It’s just Bizness” Bell

Jimmy “I’m working a case, so it’s okay when I drink a fifth of Jameson” McNulty

And Tommy Gavin of “Rescue Me” is the craziest, yet coolest firefighter in the history of television!

Watch Molly McAleer’s hilarious compilation video on Defamer and make your own top ten list.

In the summer, many channels schedule marathons and reruns to fill up those empty blocks. Holidays and warmer weather create significant drops in viewership, which leads to less advertising dollars. Thus, networks can be more creative with the schedule.

There is the new trend of showing smaller budgeted shows during the summer as mid-season or summer only programs. I’ve discovered quite a few gems during this so-called down period like “Burn Notice”, “Mad Men”, “Eureka”, “Weeds” and “In Plain Sight”. As you may have noticed, mostly cable network or premium channels can so freely funnel money into summer shows, since you have to pay to see those channels anyway.

Here’s a list of reruns, premieres and marathons for July:
“Burn Notice” - Season 2 premiere on July 10th, 10pm (mini marathon on July 3rd)
“Weeds” - Season 4 already up and running, Mondays on Showtime at 10pm
“Mad Men” - Season 1 marathon on July 20th at noon, Season 2 premiere on July 27th (Thanks Whitney for the heads up!)

“Eureka” - Season Premiere on July 29th, 9pm (watch reruns online here)
“Supernatural” - Season 3 encore, Thursdays at 9pm
“Rescue Me” minisodes started on Tuesdays on F/X, but you can catch them online as well at Crackle.com

Don’t waste the day away in your sofa hammock, stay cool and catch up on all that great tv you missed earlier in the year.