The broadcast television season has come to a close, which means die-hard viewers can either gripe about the absence of their favorite shows, or gleefully embrace the guilty pleasures of summer TV.

We recommend the latter. Like a good beach book, summer TV provides a chance to shift your brain to cruise control and veg out with some relatively mindless programming. It's time to stop frantically chasing down terrorists with Jack Bauer. Time to cease grappling with the complex time-travel theories of "Lost."

But here's a word of warning: Summer TV can be remarkably addictive (it was oh so many summers ago that we sadly got hooked on pro wrestling). So proceed with caution, keep shaded and limit your exposure to cathode rays.

Now here's your guide to 10 of the guiltier pleasures of the summer:

• 1. "Wipeout": The concept is ridiculously simple: Each week, several very brave (or very stupid) contestants compete on an obstacle course seemingly designed by a sadistic mad scientist. (8 p.m. Wednesdays, ABC).

• 2. "So You Think You Can Dance": We get an overwhelming urge to hit the "mute" button every time judge Mary Murphy unleashes one of her grating banshee screams. Otherwise, this show rules. We marvel at the different dance styles, and we're blown away by the incredible passion and insane moves by thehoofers. (8 p.m. Wednesdays; 9 p.m. Thursdays, Fox).

• 3. "Burn Notice": Now, here's a perfect crime series for the summer. It comes packed with just about everything you could want: action, humor, espionage, lots of Miami-based scenery and gorgeous women in bikinis. It also offers a quirky, charismatic leading man in blacklisted spy Michael Westen (Jeffrey Donovon), who continues to impress us with his MacGyver-ish skills and witty voice-overs. (Returns 9 p.m. June 4, USA).

• 4. Lifetime Movie Network: Former TV critic Gillian Flynn once claimed that watching LMN is like "looking at a glorious, overpacked menu of TV comfort food — it's a bit overwhelming, but everything's good." New this month: Two fabulously fashionable murder mysteries — "Killer Hair" (9 p.m., June 21) and "Hostile Makeover" (9 p.m., June 28). We're so there.

• 5. "True Blood": You can have "Twilight," we're thirsty for more "True Blood." Alan Ball's fang-tastic vampire drama sucked us in during Season 1 with its red-hot romance between Bill (Stephen Moyer) and Sookie (Anna Paquin), then held us spellbound with its potent mix of intrigue, suspense, sex and gore. (Returns 9 p.m., June 14, HBO).

• 6. "America's Got Talent": The Susan Boyle phenomenon is sure to bring even more attention (and auditioners) to this offbeat talent show. Presiding over it all is new host Nick Cannon. (Returns 9 p.m., June 23, NBC).

• 7. Daytime soaps: Glamour. Betrayal. Passion. Paternity suits. It might be a dying genre — say goodbye to "Guiding Light" in September — but there's still plenty of afternoon delight on "All My Children," "General Hospital"and "The Young and the Restless."

• 8. "Big Brother 11": And you thought this occasionally tedious, tacky and voyeuristic examination of human lab rats would be so done by now. But some of us obviously still yearn to observe a bunch of scheming exhibitionists as they hang out in a big house full of cameras. (Returns 8 p.m., July 9, CBS).

• 9. "Ice Road Truckers": When the summer temps climb into flesh-frying territory, you can chill out with this series set in the dark heart of Alaska. It follows lots of burly, bearded macho men as they haul critical supplies in big-rigs around perilous mountain cliffs and across the treacherous ice roads of the Arctic Ocean. (9 p.m. Sundays, History Channel).

•10. "Project Runway": The legal tussle between networks that plunged the show into limbo for nearly a year is finally over. Now we can get back to the fashion-themed reality series that leaves us on pins and needles. (Returns 10 p.m. Aug. 20, Lifetime).

Maybe there's some fresh guilty-pleasure viewing to be found among the batch of new summer shows<B>Monday</B>"Nurse Jackie" (10:30 p.m., Showtime): Edie Falco stars in a dark comedy about an ER nurse in Manhattan.<B>Wednesday</B>"Top Chef Masters" (10 p.m., Bravo): "World-renowned" chefs face off in the ultimate food fight.<B>Thursday</B>"16 & Pregnant" (10 p.m., MTV): A look at real-life challenges of teen pregnancy."Raising Sextuplets" (10 p.m., WE): Forget "Jon & Kate." Another supersized family comes to prime time.<B>June 14</B>"Hammertime" (10 p.m., A&E): Reality series focuses on Oakland-bred rap star Stanley Burrell.<B>June 15</B>"DJ and The Fro" (5 p.m., MTV): Animated show touted as "'Beavis and Butt-head' for the Millennial generation."<B>June 16</B>"Wedding Day" (8 p.m., TNT): Mark Burnett ("Survivor"; "The Apprentice") rewards deserving couples with the weddings of their dreams."HawthoRNe" (9 p.m., TNT): Jada Pinkett Smith plays a chief nursing officer in this medical drama.<B>Already started</B>"The Listener" (10 p.m. Thursdays, NBC): Drama follows a telepathic paramedic (Craig Olejnik)."Royal Pains" (10 p.m. Thursdays, USA): A former ER doc (Mark Feuerstein) now treats wealthy residents of the Hamptons.