If you happened to be watching TV from 1976-78, it was hard to miss the most original and crazy talent show ever to hit the tube. Yes, I’m speaking of The Gong Show.

Famous for showcasing zany acts of all kinds including jugglers, comics, singers impersonators, and everything in between; The Gong Show was without a doubt, responsible for launching all the current Talent shows seen today. The hilarious, if not downright strange creator and host of the show Chuck Barris, was also responsible for such landmark TV shows as The Dating Game and The Newlywed game. The premise of the show was simple. A panel of three celebrity judges sat in front of a large gong, if you kept them and the audience entertained long enough you made it through and got scored, if not, you got the Gong! The winner of each show was awarded a cash prize of $516.32.

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After a weekend spent beating the heat by exhausting your DVD collection in the air conditioned wonderland of the great indoors, you’re in need of TV more than ever.

You can no longer turn to your movie shelf to get you through the weeknights. A heat wave will do that. Take us to the reaches of our DVD collection in attempt to keep cool yet entertained. Much like a rainy day, a torrid bout of sun-soaked weather is enough to send us to our couches, wanting nothing more than to lay low and avoid the horrors of extreme weather.

When this happens during the TV season, it’s no big deal. We know a fresh batch of shows awaits us after we’ve eaten through all the movies in our entertainment arsenal. No such luck in the summertime, there’s still TV, but it’s just so hard to find anything new, let alone anything new and good. Luckily for you, my heatstroked friend, there’s a guide below to get you through the week.

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It’s time to stop. It’s time to stop the TV on DVR spoiler madness.

This scenario occurred at my office this week. A co-worker and myself were reminiscing about this past season of “Lost” when another person joined into the conversation. As the discussion turned to the season finale, her fingers shot into her ears like she was standing next to space shuttle. At the same instant she shouted, “Don’t tell me, I have it on my TiVo!” and scuttled off like a scared dog.

It was insanity. The “Lost” season final aired on May 29th. That was three weeks ago! Go watch it already. It’s not that hard. It takes 90 minutes.

But no, instead she preferred to run across the office with her hands in her like a four-year-old who thinks his mom’s punishment isn’t real if he can’t hear her. It’s ridiculous, but something we’ve all encountered in the DVR era.

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You may have survived the first week of summer TV season unscathed, but there’s still a long way to go, and with the Lakers collapse of last Thursday you may have lost all hope.

Don’t despair mon frere, it may seem tough to find the jewels in this sea of summer re-runs, but luckily, you’ve found a guide to lead you to the summer TV gems. So if you’ve managed to shock yourself back into reality after the Lakers’ stupefying loss of the previous week, be sure to check out some of the best bets listed below.

Tuesday

With a win on Sunday, Tuesday remains Lakers night. See if they can survive game 6 in Boston and take the series to the greatest thing in sports: Game 7.

If you’re not into sports, AFI offers its annual summertime list treat for movie fans. This year, they’re offering up “Ten Top Tens” with the ten best Westerns, Sci-Fi movies and eight other categories. The special runs from 8-11 on CBS.

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This summer, the pickings are slim but how’s the quality? Are the summer’s new shows awesome or embarrassing? Vote for one or leave us a comment and tell us who we forgot!

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*photo by tati_roza via flickr.

“Yeeeeeeeee haaawwww pard’ner; is ya’ll ready for week two of the rootin tootin reality round up? So, brothers and sisters, it worked! My mantra, “pray with me brothers and sisters for Celebrity Rehab 2” worked because my sources tell me that Celebrity Rehab goes back into production on Monday the 9^th.  Amen!

But now, it’s back to reality.

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There are times when you don’t want ‘good’ television.  You want mindless tv.  Let’s say you are, I don’t know, hungover or folding laundry or recovering from the flu.  You don’t want to keep up with an intricate plot so a show like Battlestar Gallactica or Criminal Minds is out.  You don’t have the tolerance for the latest Bachelorette and Access Hollywood is not going to happen with that headache.  What to watch?

You need something interesting but mindless.  Something you can half-pay attention to and still get what’s going on.  I have some ideas.  Stock your Tivo with these bad boys and you’ll never fold socks while watching that same Law & Order episode again!

• Keeping Up With The Kardashians  ~  Yes, really.  This might be the most formulaic , non-realistic reality show on tv.  But, the family is pretty likable (particularly sisters Khloe and Kourtney) and it’s entertaining without sucking you in.  You can watch one or two of these with an alcohol-numbed brain and still not care if you miss the rest of the season.  Perfect for the morning (or afternoon) after a bender. (E!)

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Today marks the launch of Planet Green Network, the first and only eco-lifestyle television network. The new network boasts over 250 hours of original green programming that promises to be entertaining rather than preachy.

The new network will replace Discovery Home, therefore claiming a built-in audience right off the bat. A schedule packed with celebrities should help score new viewers. Stars such as Tommy Lee, Ludacris, Tom Bergeron and Adrian Grenier are all pitching in to make the fledgling channel a success. Eileen O’Neill, president of Planet Green, promises more “Eco-tainment” than lectures. Sounds good, right? Well, let’s check out the schedule….

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Yeeeeeeeee-haaawwww pard’ner, is ya’ll ready for week two of the rootin-tootin reality round up? Summer reality television really is worse than ever and in this week’s segment I’m calling a dawg, a dog. So again this week, pray with me for Celebrity Rehab 2. Oh, back to “reality”.

First up, FOX summer staple, the hip to the hop, not even trendy, it sucks…really; hosted by Cat Deely, Star-vehicle “So You Think You Can Dance 4” or as I call it SYTUCD4:

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I know how you feel. Right now, with both excitement and horror you’re watching your favorite shows air their season finales.You want to see how they end and yet you don’t want them to end because you dread another summer of nothing good on.

It hardly seems fair, does it? With the giant strike-induced break this season, most shows had only been back for a few episodes before ending. Mucho suckage.But, don’t despair. You can fill up your DVR schedule with some new, promising programming. Hey, if they’re bad, you can just delete them and crank up your Netflix subscription for the summer. (I find that 5 at a time is too much pressure. 3 is not enough. 4 is just right. Yes, I’m the Goldilocks of freakin’ movie rentals.)

Here are my picks:

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1) Post Strike Blues.

Your favorite shows are in reruns. Michael Johns just got unjustly booted from American Idol. Someone told you that the NHL Playoffs are on right now, but you think that’s just an unfounded rumor (does the NHL still actually exist? Can anyone confirm or deny?)

Sounds like the perfect time to go rent BBC’s 6-part miniseries “State of Play,” an absolute blast that is part thriller, part political intrigue, part melodrama, and a lot of journalistic fun. “State of Play” mostly represents everything U.S. television is not; smart, well-acted, significant, and a sense of when to call it quits.

2) It’s only 6 hours.

Unlike U.S. television, which milks series like “Prison Break” that should have ended in development but at most should have ended with season 1, those Brits know how to leave you wanting more. After “The Office” signed off after 12 episodes and one special, State of Play is a 6 hour miniseries and that’s it. No long-term commitment required, just don’t expect to stop watching after you’ve gobbled up episode 1.

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If you had the power to bring back one t.v. show for a few more seasons, what show would you pick?

If you’re a t.v. lover, you’ve surely noticed the irony. It seems like every time you fall in love with a show, it’s canceled after one or two seasons, right? I nearly cried when Showtime decided not to bring back Dead Like Me for a Season 3. I needed to know what my grim reapers were doing. I still think of them sometimes and wonder how a show that good, starring a great actor like Mandy Patinkin could be canned.

Then there’s the genius shows like Firefly, which ran for only 14 episodes but had such a huge following it sparked a movie (Serenity). Or what about Chappelle’s Show? We all know he had his reasons for calling it quits but I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want to see another season of that.

I put this question to both my mom and my husband. My husband quickly answered Freaks and Geeks, which sadly only ran 1 season, but he wavered a bit between that and Deadwood (3 seasons). My mom didn’t miss a beat before choosing The West Wing. I reminded her that it was on for 7 seasons. She didn’t care. She wants more West Wing and she wants it now.

So, what would you choose? Remember, you have the power to bring back anything, I don’t care if it’s Friends or The Smurfs. Leave a comment and state your demands!

*photo by autowitch via flickr.