Summer Splash : Couch Potato Guide

A revival of “Route 66,” a weekly newsmagazine with Connie Chung, a Paul McCartney concert, a new version of “Frankenstein,” David Letterman’s debut on CBS: This won’t be a summer in which you can say there’s nothing but reruns on television.

It may still be true that there are mostly reruns on the tube, but between the executives of Fox and cable-TV trying to lure new viewers and the Big Three networks trying to hold onto them, there will be plenty of first-run programming to keep couch potatoes interested.

NBC actually kicked things off Saturday night with the premiere of “Black Tie Affair,” a comedy series starring Kate Capshaw, John Calvin, Bradford Whitford and Alison Elliott. The network has two more series standing by: “South Beach,” an action show set in Miami, premieres June 6, and “Route 66,” a remake of the ‘60s road series with Dan Cortese and James Wilder in the lead roles, checks in June 8.

Connie Chung, who joins Dan Rather as co-anchor of the “CBS Evening News” on Tuesday, will debut in prime time 16 days later with “Eye to Eye,” a newsmagazine that already has a berth in CBS’ fall lineup. NBC also expects to introduce another prime-time newsmagazine this summer, but no date has been set.

Other series planned for the summer include new episodes of “Dream On” and “The Larry Sanders Show” on HBO (June 2); a Monday-night movie block on Fox, consisting of theatrical films and new TV movies (June 21); “Real World,” the second installment of MTV’s semi-documentary series about young people pursuing their careers out of common living quarters in Venice (June 24); “Ned Blessing: The Story of My Life & Times,” a Western on CBS starring Brad Johnson (June 30), and “Danger Theater,” a parody of onetime TV hits such as “Miami Vice” and “Knight Rider” (July 11).

Also: “Great Escapes,” an anthology of multi-part romantic adventures that NBC could break off into individual series (Aug. 27), and, for daytime viewers, “John & Leeza From Hollywood,” a celebrity talk show on NBC hosted by John Tesh and Leeza Gibbons of “Entertainment Tonight” (June 14).

Among the summer’s movies and specials: “Frankenstein” on TNT with Randy Quaid and Patrick Bergin (June 13); a Paul McCartney concert on Fox (June 15); a two-part drama about a black family in St. Paul, Minn., “Laurel Avenue,” on HBO (July 10-11); and “Marilyn and Bobby,” a TV movie about Marilyn Monroe and Robert F. Kennedy on USA (Aug. 4).

Even late-night viewers will have some big doings to watch. David Letterman checks out of NBC on June 25 and over to CBS, which is hoping to start his new show on Aug. 23.