Your summer watchlist: 15 shows you can watch to beat the heat

3. American Woman

The rundown: Loosely based on Real Housewife Kyle Richards’ mother and her family, American Woman is a period comedy about a woman trying to get back on her feet after learning of her husband’s affair. It’s not a new story, nor is it particularly well written or acted, but the intrigue created as the (sort of) autobiographical story of a former child star turned reality maven is irresistible.

Bonnie Nolan has a glamorous, although not very fulfilling, life as the beautiful wife of a real estate mogul. She is financially dependent on him and was the perfect picture of wife and mother to her two girls. When she realizes he’s having an affair, she throws him out of the house, only to learn that he’s made some shady business decisions and the money is gone.

Why it’s summer fun: I can’t resist Alicia Silverstone or Mena Sorvino in anything they do, but pair them up, and there’s bound to be some kind of spark.

Silverstone’s Bonnie is a bit cliche. But she’s developed so much loyalty from audiences of a certain age that we would probably watch Cher Horowitz read the phone book. There’s an attempt to keep it focused on the female empowerment of it all, which I appreciate. But it really doesn’t have to try so hard. It would be far more fun if it would just exhale in the silliness and buy into its own camp. I’m not sure we’ll get there, but it’s not too bad for a 30-minute comedy on the Paramount Network produced by a Real Housewife.

How to watch it: It airs on Thursdays nights on the Paramount Network, but you can also watch past episodes on the network’s website.