Summer 2011: Best Brain Candy

USA’s slate of guiltlessly pleasurable programming is back with new seasons that are as fun as the summer is hot. There’s no TV felon who can craft a scheme (and pull off a finely tailored suit) as well as White Collar‘s resident recovering con man, Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer), who in the show’s upcoming third season (premiering June 7) finds himself tackling more intricate crimes than ever alongside his FBI bestie Peter (Tim DeKay), including a Dan Brown-style mystery that ”they have to solve with their brains,” according to creator Jeff Eastin. The intrepid team on Burn Notice (June 29), led by newly unburned CIA agent Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovan), will face turmoil early in season 5 after a shocking murder. As for Royal Pains (June 23), what it lacks in thrills and death-defying stunts it makes up for in dry wit, sexy beach locales, and funny family drama, which reaches new levels in season 3 now that Hank’s (Mark Feuerstein) scam-artist dad, Eddie (Henry Winkler), is in jail. Says Feuerstein, ”What our brilliant writing staff has done so well is create a show that knows what it is.”