TV's big bargain summer; New reality shows dominate the forgotten season

This summer the big TV networks are cranking out all-new shows in record numbers. But don't hold your breath waiting for a first-run episode of "CSI" or "Friends"; there simply aren't enough people watching TV during the summer months to pay for shows like that. Instead, the networks have ordered a raft of new documentaries, "reality" shows and similar fare at a fraction of the price of a typical drama or sitcom. Some look like cut-rate specials; others are bargains waiting to be found. Here's what's coming up: "Mole 2" (8 p.m. Tuesdays, ABC, Channel 9). Pulled shortly after its premiere last fall, this globe-trotting game show restarted its second season last week with host Anderson Cooper not only protecting the identity of the infiltrator, but slyly concealing his own betrayal as well (after the show was taped, Cooper left ABC for CNN). "Adoption" (7 p.m. Sundays, with its premiere tonight, Hallmark Channel). A beautifully done series documenting both sides of the adoption process. One segment follows a couple's arduous adoption of a baby living halfway across the globe; another profiles a single woman torn over whether to give up her child. "Looking for Love: Bachelorettes in Alaska" (8 p.m. Sundays, starting tomorrow, Fox, Channel 4). Fox's newest dating game is "Temptation Island" in parkas. In a nice 19th-century touch, each woman gets a "dowry" that gets larger the deeper she digs for gold - er - I mean the better she plays the game. The few minutes I previewed were so awful that it seems certain to become a hit. "The Hamptons" (8 p.m. Sunday and Monday, ABC, Channel 9). Esteemed documentary filmmaker Barbara Kopple bummed around Long Island's tony Hamptons last summer, documenting the party scene of the rich and famous. Reviewers have not been kind; the New Yorker's critic called Kopple "a promoter of the privileged." "Boston 24/7" (9 p.m. over six nights beginning Tuesday, ABC, Channel 9). ABC dispersed crews throughout Boston for three months, capturing video from a troubled high school, a prosecutor's office, the mayor, a firefighter and many other people with "everyday struggles and triumphs" in this follow-up to last summer's "Hopkins 24/7." The two hours I saw were raw and riveting. In one terrifyingly long scene, a student grows angrier and angrier at a teacher he thinks has "disrespected" him. In another, a press secretary to Boston's mayor seems overwhelmed by her job. Not many scenes here play out quite as you'd expect. "Spy TV" (7 p.m. Tuesdays, NBC, Channel 41). Doritos chip babe Ali Landry takes over emcee duties of this candid-video program. NBC is promising "wackier and funnier" stunts than last year's edition. Even so, a supermodel is no substitute for a guerrilla host like the WB's Jamie Kennedy, whose new show, "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment," has reinvented Allen Funt's format. "Cold Case Files" (8 p.m. Tuesdays, A&E) and "Minute by Minute" (9 p.m. Wednesdays, A&E). The latest makeover of A&E's prime-time schedule bumps up two occasional series to weeklies. "Cold Case Files," about crime cases that are kick-started after years of dormancy, is produced and narrated by Bill Kurtis, who has just the voice for it. "Minute by Minute" retells famous news stories in detail that can be excruciating (JFK's assassination) or gratuitous (the O.J. "chase"). "World Diary" (8 p.m., Wednesday, National Geographic Channel). Another must-see installment in the quarterly news series about corners of the world we rarely hear from. This edition tells the heart-wrenching stories of children victimized by Colombia's long-running drug wars. "American Idol: The Search for a Superstar" (premieres 7:30 p.m. June 11 on Fox, Channel 4). Ed McMahon is nowhere to be found on this star-search series imported from England. Vote live for your favorite act. "State v." (9 p.m. Wednesdays starting June 19, ABC, Channel 9) and "Crime & Punishment" (9 p.m. Sundays starting June 16, NBC, Channel 41). Competing real-life justice shows, one from ABC's news division, the other from Mr. "Law & Order," Dick Wolf. "State v." makes excellent use of it's extraordinary access to all aspects of a murder trial, including jury deliberations. The episode I saw had great drama, with a grizzled prosecutor pitted against an idealistic and plucky public defender in a complex case. By contrast, the verite style of "Crime & Punishment" may work for a show like "Cops," but is too minimalist for a one-hour story. It didn't help that the episode I saw featured a slam-dunk case for the prosecution. Making the defense look silly is a time-honored tradition on "Law & Order," but it just doesn't work here. "Married in America" (8 p.m. June 17 and 9 p.m. June 20, A&E). Director Michael Apted, who has documented the lives of British children into adulthood ("7 Up," "14 Up" etc.), does the same with a group of American newlyweds. Apted plans to follow up with the subjects of this intriguing film in 10 years. "P.O.V." (10 p.m. Sundays starting June 30, KCPT, Channel 19). Public television's consistently outstanding summer anthology of documentary films opens with "The Smith Family," a film about a Mormon family torn apart by AIDS. Later films include "Senorita Extraviada," a chilling tale of more than 200 young women missing in Juarez, Mexico. And in July ... "Big Brother 3" (July 10, CBS, Channel 5). He's BA-aaaaaaa-ck. To reach Aaron Barnhart, phone (816) 234-4790 or visit the TV Barn Web site at www.tvbarn.com @ART CAPTION:Five women search for Mr. Right on "Looking for Love: Bachelorettes in Alaska" at 8 p.m. Sundays starting tomorrow on Fox, Channel 4. @ART CREDIT:Fox @ART CAPTION:Producer Dick Wolf @ART:Photos (2, color and b/w)