Summer isn’t usually a great time for television, what with the networks putting on virtually nothing but reality shows, celebrity game shows and re-runs. But if you’re a documentary fan, you may just have a reason to come back inside and plop down in front of the tube.

Over on HBO, the pay cable network is running what its calling the summer of the documentary, with a new non-fiction film debuting every Monday night. The series features film festival favorites like “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired” alongside films about art, drug trafficking and high school debate, plus new offerings from notable directors such as “Heidi Fleiss: The Would-Be Madam of Crystal” (premiering July 21) from directors Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” “Inside Deep Throat”). See their whole schedule here.

ABC is airing “Hopkins,” a six-part series from ABC News that follows the patients and staff of John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.

“Independent Lens” on PBS, which is hosted by Terence Howard, has broadcast a slew of first-class films this season — most quite informative. Among them: “King Corn,” about two friends who plant a single acre of the crop and follow its journey to the dinner table, “Deep Water,” which tells the story of the first solo, non-stop, round-the-world boat race, and “Hard Road Home,” the story of two felons on a quest to survive outside after years in prison.

Also on PBS is “Frontline,” an equally terrific series, which aired the fascinating “Bush’s War,” “Storm Over Everest” from filmmaker/climber David Breashears, and the recent “Young and Restless in China,” a portrait of a group of young Chinese men and women grappling to keep up with a society that’s changing faster than any in history.

MSNBC announced the recent formation of a documentary film division, whose first feature will be the Slamdance fave “Dear Zachary: A Letter to His Son About His Father,” which will premiere on the network after its theatrical release.

IFC, always a source of solid documentaries, is currently running “Heavy Load,” a British film about a unique punk rock band made up of members both with and without mental disabilities. New York Times says, “It would be easy for “Heavy Load” … to lapse into wet sentiment, and it often threatens to. But the film … succeeds, thanks to the resilient dignity of its subjects.”

Every Monday is DocDay on Sundance, with day-long non-fiction programing blocks including “Jam,” a film about roller derby revival and Peter Bogdonavich’s excellent four-hour “Runnin’ Down a Dream: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.”

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