Let's face it: Summer isn't the best season for TV. Networks have tried to step it up in the last few years by putting The Closer, Saving Grace, Rescue Me, Burn Notice, Weeds and Californication in the heat of the summer to take our minds off 100 degree weather and 100 percent humidity.

This Monday, The Closer and Saving Grace, both huge hits for TNT, are starting up their summer runs and it couldn't be soon enough for us scripted TV-starved fans. I've had the chance to screen both episodes — they are starting off with a bang.

The Closer, actually, is starting off with a "Controlled Burn," which tells its crime story with the backdrop of last year's intense wildfires in the Griffith Park area of Los Angeles. It's a stunning metaphor for the season's theme of "power." Brenda Leigh will be dealing with issues of her own power within the force, the power of her suspects over her, feeling like she's lost power when a reporter is given permission to tag along during her investigations as well as how her job holds so much power over her personal life with FBI Agent Fritz Howard.

Saving Grace begins the season in a very dark yet powerful spot: Detective Grace Hanadarko discovered that the priest that abused her as a child is in fact alive, and has been unpunished for his crimes. The season opener shows Grace as a hero, after gunning down a serious bad guy on her day off, only to go home to her dog, Gus, and the kidnapped priest who she's holding hostage. What is she looking for? Apologies? Revenge? Justice? And when the priest reveals that he too knows about Earl, Grace's "last chance" angel, she must struggle with the universal question: "Why would God let things like this happen in the world?"

Both shows will make you wake up from your summer TV slumbers and rejoice that there's something worth programming on that dusty TiVo!

Are you excited for their returns? Will you be tuning in to see how Brenda Leigh and Grace fare this season?

Related
• Use Our Online Video Guide to Catch up on Saving Grace
• Use Our Online Video Guide to Watch Episodes of The Closer