THIS MONTH: July TV highlights

Our planned summer preview was sidetracked by work on our TV Worth Watching site redesign. But we'd like to play at least partial catch-up by highlighting a few key July dates when popular series return, new shows debut, and special events take place.

Here's a teaser: White Collar. Mad Men. The Wire. The Closer. Psych. Eureka. Doctor Who. Jimmy Buffett. Merle Haggard. And more.

Some dates for your calendar:

July 1 -- HBO Sports summer documentary festivals begins weekly airings with Joe Louis: America's Hero, Betrayed (6:30 p.m. ET). Other titles include Dare to Dream: The Story of the U.S. Women's Soccer Team (July 8), Reverse of the Curse of the Bambino (July 15), the John Wooden story The UCLA Dynasty (July 22), and Ted Williams (July 29).

July 6 -- Warehouse 13 (Syfy, 9 p.m. ET) starts its second season (following a 3-9 p.m. catchup marathon).

July 7 -- David Suchet on the Orient Express (PBS, check local times) is a documentary pegged to the start of more Poirot cases July 11 on Masterpiece Mystery!

July 9 -- Eureka (Syfy, 9 p.m. ET) returns, and Haven (Syfy, 10 p.m. ET) premieres, inspired by a Stephen King novella.

July 9 -- Live From the Artists Den (PBS, check local times) launches a new season with a Metropolitan Museum of Art performance by Ringo Starr, Ben Harper and Joan Osborne.

July 10 -- The Bridge (CBS, 8 p.m. ET) is another Canadian import, this time about a police union leader played by Battlestar Galactica stalwart Aaron Douglas.

July 11 -- The Glades (A&E, 10 p.m. ET) stars Matt Passmore as a Chicago cop exiled to small-town Florida, with Kiele Sanchez and Carlos Gomez.

July 11 -- Jimmy Buffett & Friends: Live From the Gulf Coast (CMT, 7 p.m. ET), the all-star benefit show for Gulf Coast residents affected by the oil spill, has been pushed back from July 1 due to weather fears.

July 12 -- Turmoil and Triumph: The George Schulz Years (PBS, check local times, weekly through July 26) looks inside the highest levels of American government, through the career of Ronald Reagan's Secretary of State. Interviews include Henry Kissinger, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Mikhail Gorbachev and more.

July 12 -- The Closer (TNT, 9 p.m. ET) returns for its sixth season, leading in to Rizzoli & Isles (TNT, 10 p.m. ET), a new cop hour set in Boston with Angie Harmon.

July 13 -- White Collar (USA, 9 p.m. ET) is finally back for its second season of con-man charm, followed by the new Covert Affairs (USA, 10 p.m. ET), starring Piper Perabo as a CIA trainee suddenly elevated over her head. Cool cast also includes Christopher Gorham, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Peter Gallagher, Kari Matchett and Anne Dudek. (Catch up to White Collar with Monday, July 12 marathon, 6 a.m.-5 p.m. ET).

July 14 -- Psych (USA, 10 p.m. ET) returns as USA's flagship Friday series. (Catch up with July 14 marathon, 6 a.m.-1 p.m. ET.)

July 17 -- Doctor Who (BBC America, 9 p.m. ET) starts a two-parter concluding its first season with new doctor Matt Smith.

July 18 -- The Wire (DirecTV, 9 p.m. ET) starts weekly encores on The 101.

July 21 -- Merle Haggard: Learning to Live With Myself (PBS, check local times) is a new American Masters profile of the Okie From Muskogee country music legend.

July 24 -- Being Human (BBC America, 10 p.m. ET) launches its second season of hunky young vampires, werewolves and ghosts. (First season encores July 18, 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m.; July 23, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., all times ET.)

July 25 -- Mad Men (AMC, 10 p.m. ET) begins its fourth season of ad industry secrets and lies. (Catch up first with Monday overnight marathons starting July 5, 8 p.m.-6 a.m. ET).

July 25 -- My Boys (TBS) brings back Jordana Spiro and her Chicago circle of guy pals.