Think of all the free time you have now that “Lost,” “24,” “Modern Family” and “Cougar Town” are gone — two for the season, two for good.
Imagine the books you’ll devour, the miles you’ll run, the friends you’ll entertain.
Or not. New distractions are coming this summer:
“Scoundrels,” June 20 on ABC, with Virginia Madsen as the matriarch of a bunch of small-time criminals who decide to go straight, adopted from a New Zealand dramedy.
The third season of “True Blood,” June 13 on HBO.
On the low end of “reality TV,” to fulfill your high-camp needs, “Jersey Couture,” coming Tuesday to Oxygen. Awful fashions, worse accents.
That leads to the return of “Mad Men,” July 25 on AMC.
First, HBO this weekend unspools “The Special Relationship,” about the political friendship of Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, Saturday at 7 p.m.
The film is the third in a historical trilogy written by Peter Morgan, with the “The Deal” and “The Queen.”
Michael Sheen again gives a brilliant performance as Blair. He’s made a career of it, playing the prime minister in both earlier films by Morgan. He also mastered the role of the TV interviewer David Frost in Morgan’s “Frost/Nixon.” Lately he’s best known as the geeky Brit fated to be Liz Lemon’s boyfriend on “30 Rock.”
Dennis Quaid plays Clinton, Helen McCrory (“The Queen”) returns to the role of Cherie Blair and Hope Davis (“In Treatment”) nails a rendition of Hillary Rodham Clinton far from caricature. Quaid looks most Clintonesque from the back but Davis is a marvel as Hillary.
The “special relationship” of course refers to that of the U.S. and Britain, a term coined by Winston Churchill. But here the meaning is extended with the unfolding Monica Lewinsky scandal as a backdrop as the two power couples — Bill and Hill, Tony and Cherie — become friends. Power shifts between the leaders, through crises in Northern Ireland and Kosovo, as well as during the humiliating revelations regarding “that woman,” the White House intern. It’s left to an aide to the prime minister to note that “all political friendship is conditional.” Morgan and cast make us feel we’re in the inner sanctum.
Memorial Day coverage.
KMGH- Channel 7 again covers the Bolder Boulder with cut-ins starting at 5 a.m. Monday and culminating with the finish-line ceremony at 11 a.m. Talk show host Dr. Mehmet Oz, whose show appears on Channel 7, is a guest.
For the third year, FSN Rocky Mountain will air a one-hour 2010 Bolder Boulder highlight show the following week, June 6 at 5:30 p.m.
Don’t expect the massive scale of coverage KCNC offered for nearly two decades.
Also Memorial Day, at 6:30 p.m., Channel 7 airs a half-hour documentary, “Iwo Jima, A Final Tour,” narrated by Mitch Jelniker. A group of Colorado veterans, all 80-plus years old, returned to the island (closed to the public) where they fought as Marines. The emotional journey was facilitated by the Greatest Generations Foundation, and (as the program explains in too much detail) a transportation glitch was resolved with help from state legislators.
May sweeps.
With 27 days out of 28 calculated, CBS claims another May sweeps victory nationally, but NBC affiliate KUSA wins locally.
Despite the huge advantage of the CBS prime-time lineup, with 13 out of the top 20 shows locally, KCNC couldn’t hold the lead-in.
While showing improvement, Denver CBS affiliate KCNC hasn’t been able to capitalize on its prime-time advantage in late news. The station trails KUSA by 23,000 households in Denver’s late news contest, a 27 percent difference.
KUSA continues to lead the market in the key 10 p.m. news race with a 4.9 rating (14.5 share), ahead of KCNC’s 2.9 rating (8.6 share), and KMGH’s 2.5 rating (7.5 share).
At 9 p.m., KDVR’s news averaged a 1.9 rating (5 share).
A reassuring sign of our good taste: The most-watched series in Denver was “The Big Bang Theory” on Channel 4.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
