Heading into summer means first closing the book on yet another network TV season, which still follows the fall-spring slot on the calendar. I like that regularity and I think most viewers miss it when it comes to streaming. “The Bear” is an outlier, premiering new episodes each June like clockwork.

This time of year is also when broadcasters announce cancellations and the biggest changes are coming to NBC, where five shows got the ax: the dramas “Found,” “The Irrational” and “Suits: LA” and comedies “Night Court” and “Lopez vs. Lopez.” Some of those decisions were likely a way to make room for NBC’s new deal to carry NBA games.

I’m not seeing anything particularly interesting on the horizon just yet for the broadcast networks next season, with one exception. Fox has ordered a U.S. adaptation of the British series “Doc Martin” called “Best Medicine,” which will star Josh Charles (“The Good Wife”) in an hour-long comedy about a “successful surgeon who abruptly leaves his post in Boston to become a general practitioner in the East Coast fishing village where he spent summers as a kid.”

That’s still a few months off. In the meantime, here’s a look at 15 shows on tap for the summer months, when streaming is your best bet for new and returning series, listed here in chronological order.

Programming note: The 78th Tony Awards will air on CBS on Sunday, June 8.

“The Librarians: The Next Chapter” (May 25 on TNT): It’s been a good while since TNT carried original programming outside of sports, but the network has two series slated for this year, including a miniseries called “High Value Target” about a real-life CIA analyst’s 2003 interrogation of deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein (no date announced yet) and this spinoff of TNT’s adventure series “The Librarians,” which last aired new episodes in 2018. The new version centers on a librarian time traveler from 1847 named Vikram who now finds himself stuck in the present. When he returns to his castle in Belgrade, he discovers that it is now a museum, and he “inadvertently releases magic across the continent,” a mess he then has to clean up with a team of eclectic comrades. The first episode premieres Sunday after the NBA playoffs. The next episode premieres the next night on Monday, following NHL playoffs. (The show will then continue with a Monday night schedule.)

“And Just Like That …” (May 29 on HBO Max): Not a fan of this continuation of “Sex and the City,” so much so I didn’t even bother with the second season, nor am I planning to watch its third. So consider this just a heads-up for anyone who feels otherwise and has stuck with the show despite it all.

“Dept. Q” (May 29 on Netflix): A stubborn and sarcastic police detective in Edinburgh (Matthew Goode) is exiled to his department’s basement to work as his own one-man cold case unit. It’s a PR stunt his boss fixes up, mostly to get him out of her hair — nobody can stand the guy; he can barely stand himself — but slowly he builds a small team, who try to find out what happened to a prosecutor who went missing four years prior. The series blends droll humor and well-worn cop show tropes to focus on a grisly case.

 

“Stick” (June 4 on Apple TV+): Owen Wilson stars in this comedy as a pro golfer who has mediocre personal and professional prospects (“Tin Cup,” anyone?). With nothing else to lose, he decides to back a teenage golf phenom who has problems of his own. Apple is calling it a “heartfelt, feel-good comedy about a found family and their relationships set within the world of golf as it has never been shown before.”

“Art Detectives” (June 9 on Acorn TV): Stephen Moyer (“True Blood”) stars as an art-loving police detective who works in the Heritage Crime Unit of this UK-set series, where he and his partner tackle murder cases connected to the art and antiquities world, “from Old Master paintings, to Banksy street art, medieval manuscripts and collectible vinyl.” Plot twist: He must contend with the sudden reappearance of his father, who is a notorious art forger. You don’t say! Sounds fun, but it’s all in the execution.

Rishi Nair returns as the vicar in Season 10 of “Grantchester.” (Kudos/ITV/Masterpiece/PBS)

“Grantchester”(June 15 by Masterpiece on PBS): It’s the 1960s in an English village, where a police detective teams up with the local vicar to solve crimes. Sure, there have been three vicars over the show’s many seasons, all young and handsome and somehow each finds himself doing some freelance sleuthing. The show was losing steam there for a while, but then Rishi Nair joined the cast last year as the newest vicar, bringing a charisma to the role that was otherwise absent, and he’s back again for Season 10.

“We Were Liars” (June 18 on Amazon): The series is based on the 2014 novel from E. Lockhart about a group of wealthy teenagers who summer on a private island. Everything about the protagonist’s life is enviable, until she suffers a head injury that affects her memories one summer. What really happened? And why are certain things so different when she next returns?

“Outrageous” (June 18 on BritBox): Based on the true story of the aristocratic Mitford sisters who, according to Wikipedia, “gained widespread attention for their stylish and controversial lives as young people.” Set in the 1930s as a second World War loomed, there were major divisions in the family, some of whom were pro-fascist. The sisters include the British novelist Nancy Freeman-Mitford, who wrote about the upper crust.

“Ironheart” (June 24 on Disney+): Picking up after the events of the 2022 movie “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” the series centers on Riri Williams, the “genius inventor determined to make her mark on the world (returning) to her hometown of Chicago. Her unique take on building iron suits is brilliant, but in pursuit of her ambitions, she finds herself wrapped up with the mysterious yet charming Parker Robbins aka ‘The Hood.’”

Dominique Thorne as Riri Williams in “Ironheart.” (Marvel/TNS)

“The Bear” (June 25 by FX on Hulu): As with previous seasons, all 10 episodes of Season 4 will be available to stream at once, which I know has been a controversial choice for audiences who prefer a weekly conversation about the show. I think a binge drop is fine in this instance. I had some mild critiques of Seasons 1 and 2, but overall really liked the show. Season 3? Less so. The narrative felt stalled in place and I think there are other characters getting short shrift whose stories are more interesting to explore than yet more Carmy angst. Here’s hoping Season 4 bounces back.

“Smoke” (June 27 on Apple TV+): A crime drama centering an arson investigator (Taron Egerton) and a police detective (Jurnee Smollett) from Dennis Lehane (best known for novels such as “Gone, Baby, Gone” and “Mystic River”) based on true events as the pair track down two serial arsonists.

“Nautilus” (June 29, AMC and streaming on AMC+): A reimagining of Jules Verne’s 1870 science fiction adventure classic “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.” Originally made for Disney+ (which then declined to release the series) AMC has picked it up for U.S. distribution. The title comes from the name of the vessel in Verne’s book, with Shazad Latif starring as Nemo, who “plans to reach the fabled Viking treasure buried at the Pillars of Halvar. But first, he must win the trust of his crew, and keep out of the clutches of the ruthless East India Mercantile Company, who will do whatever it takes to stop him.”

“Too Much” (July 10 on Netflix): The 10-episode series follows a millennial workaholic named Jessica (Megan Stalter, so good on “Hacks”) who, fresh off a breakup, moves from New York to London to start over. From the streamer that brought you “Emily in Paris” comes a show I’m sure they referred to internally as “Jessica in London.” Stalter has a lot of talent and tang, so here’s hoping the series is actually much better than that. Will Sharpe (“White Lotus”) plays the handsome Brit who catches her eye.

“Wednesday” (Aug. 6 on Netflix): I liked the Addams Family spinoff series well enough when it premiered in November 2022. Was it good enough to be one of the more popular offerings from Netflix? Not in my opinion. It’s a teen drama — one with style, though not an especially inventive one; executive producer Tim Burton is recycling old ideas by this point  — which works best when it’s simply being funny. The heavy plotting around a mysterious supernatural something or other? Didn’t do anything for me. It’s back for Season 2 and once again, Netflix is weirdly not premiering it around Halloween. This installment will be divided into two chapters, with the second picking up a month later in September.

“Peacemaker” (Aug. 21 on HBO Max): Season 2 of the DC Studios series starring John Cena arrives after a three-plus year delay. Well, maybe audiences are inured to these kinds of things by now. I like the first season. It’s a ridiculous show that knows it’s ridiculous, with a fully R-rated Saturday morning cartoon sensibility that refuses to take itself too seriously. I was less interested in the way Peacemaker is presented as a racist and sexist figure who really just needs a hug: A cuddly Cro-Magnon. It’s worth thinking about why, even within a largely comedic endeavor, this type of character has been designed to generate our sympathy.

Nina Metz is a Tribune critic.

By Linda Gassenheimer, Tribune News Service

At a recent event catered by Michael Meltzer, the owner of Michael’s Catering, a variety of buffet tables showcased an array of delicious dishes. To my surprise, the longest line was at the table serving grilled cheese sandwiches. Curious, I asked Michael about this unexpected favorite, and he shared that, no matter what the event, these sandwiches are always the star of the show.

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I asked him for his special recipe and adapted it for use at home. One of the key secrets he explained is ensuring the bread is perfectly toasted—never burned—and that the cheese is melted, creating a balance of crispness and gooey goodness.

HELPFUL HINTS:

Any flavor jam can be used.

Any type of bread can be used.

COUNTDOWN:

Prepare all ingredients.

Make the Grilled Cheese sandwich.

While sandwiches cook, assemble the spinach and tomato salad.

SHOPPING LIST:

To buy: 1 mild brie cheese (3 ounces needed), 1 loaf whole wheat bread, 1 jar fig spread or jam, 1 small apple, 1 can olive oil spray, 1 bag washed, ready-to-eat spinach leaves, 1 container cherry tomatoes, 1 bottle reduced fat salad dressing.

Staples: butter

Grilled Cheese Sandwich Supper

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

4 slices whole wheat bread

Olive oil spray

3 ounces sliced mild brie cheese

2 tablespoons fig spread or jam

1/2 cup very thinly sliced apple

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups washed, ready-to-eat spinach leaves

2 cups cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoons reduced fat salad dressing

Place the bread slices on a counter. Spray slices with olive oil spray. Heat a large skillet with olive oil spray. Add the four slices and cook about 1 to 2 minutes to slightly toast the slices. Turn the burner off. Remove the slices from the skillet and place on the counter, toasted side up. Move the skillet away from the heat. Divide the cheese slices between 2 toasted slices. Spoon 1 tablespoon fig jam over each cheese. Add the apple slices on top of the fig jam. To make the sandwich, place the remaining 2 toasted slices over the apples, toasted side inside. Reheat the skillet over low heat and add the butter. When the butter sizzles, add the sandwiches. Cover skillet with a lid and cook 2 minutes. Check to see that the bread is crisp, not turning black. Turn the sandwiches over and cover the skillet with a lid. Cook. 2 more minutes. Meanwhile, divide the spinach leaves between 2 dinner plates and add the cherry tomatoes. Drizzle dressing on top. When ready, remove sandwiches to the 2 dinner plates, cut them in half and place next to the Spinach and Tomato Salad.

Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 490 calories (47 percent from fat), 25.6 g fat (11.9 g saturated, 8.5 g monounsaturated), 58.4 mg cholesterol, 18.5 g protein, 50.7 g carbohydrates, 7.7 g fiber, 567 mg sodium.

©2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC

By LAURA UNGAR

About five years ago, Gail Friedman noticed her Parson Russell Terrier was constantly licking his paws and seemed super uncomfortable.

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“The poor dog. I would put baby socks on his feet so that he wouldn’t lick them or bite at them,” said Friedman, of Oak Brook, Illinois. “I was constantly changing the socks, washing his feet a lot. Nothing worked.”

It turned out her canine companion, Mr. Friedman, had allergies.

It’s a common and tricky problem in pets — caused by various things such as pollen, dust, mold, chemicals and food — but veterinarians say there are several ways to ease their suffering.

What sorts of allergies do dogs and cats get?

Allergies happen when the immune system overreacts to a foreign substance. Cats and dogs react to many of the same things people do, as well as pests like fleas.

There are no definitive recent statistics on how many pets have allergies, but research suggests the problem is growing.

“I probably see allergic dogs and cats every single day, probably multiple times a day,” said Dr. Karen Woodard, medical director at Thrive Pet Healthcare-Elmhurst in Illinois.

About 90% of allergic pets react to environmental triggers, Woodard said, and the rest have food allergies only.

Gail Friedman holds her dog, Mr. Friedman, while Dr. Karen Woodard checks his ear for signs of allergies in Elmhurst, Ill. on May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)

Dog breeds that are especially vulnerable include various types of terriers, boxers and bulldogs; in cats, it’s Persians, Siamese and Himalayans.

Pets can even be allergic to other animals — cats to dogs, dogs to cats and either to another species.

“It’s possible for them to be allergic to us, just like we are to them,” said Thrive’s Dr. Anthea Elliott Schick of Scottsdale, Arizona, immediate past president of the American College of Veterinary Dermatology.

How can you tell if your pet has allergies?

Allergic cats and dogs aren’t as likely as humans to sneeze and cough. More often, they scratch and lick themselves, shake their heads and develop ear infections.

Woodard said her Yorkie mix, Teddy, had the classic signs — scratching around his shoulders and getting rashes and ear infections starting as a six-month-old puppy. She lived in the South at the time, and he tested positive for allergies to various trees and grasses there.

A common sign of allergies in her feline patients is “overdoing their grooming,” said Woodard, who’s on the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association’s board of directors. “Cats shouldn’t be pulling their hair out when they groom. So if you start seeing bald patches on your cat, even though the skin underneath it looks normal, that could be a sign of allergies.”

Even food allergies, often to chicken, beef, lamb or other protein sources, frequently show up on the skin, although pets can have vomiting or diarrhea, too.

Rarely, pets can develop life-threatening anaphylactic reactions, perhaps after being stung by an insect. But most allergies are simply miserable for the animals.

Dr. Karen Woodard checks for fleas and ticks on Gail Friedman’s allergy-prone dog, Mr. Friedman, in Elmhurst, Ill. on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)

“It breaks my heart because it gets to a point that not only do I have socks on poor Mr. Friedman — which is humiliating for him — he sometimes gets so bad he has to wear the cone of shame,” Gail Friedman said. “And that’s not fair because he can’t move around right, he can’t sleep right. It’s terrible.”

How can you help your pet?

The first step is to get a diagnosis from the vet. This could involve allergy testing, or in the case of food allergies, an “elimination diet,” which involves feeding limited ingredients the pet hasn’t previously eaten.

If the allergy culprit is environmental, there are medications like anti-inflammatory drugs and newer oral and injectable medications for dogs to block chemical signals associated with itchiness. Food allergies may be treated with special diets such as “hydrolyzed” food, in which proteins are chemically broken down into tiny pieces.

All this can get expensive. Friedman estimates she’s spent about $10,000 on testing, medication and care for Mr. Friedman and another allergic dog.

Various shampoos and cleansing products for treating allergies in pets sit on a shelf at Thrive Pet Healthcare in Elmhurst, Ill. on May 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Laura Bargfeld)

But vets say there are also ways to help pets at home by cleaning their bedding frequently, wiping their fur with a wet washcloth and giving them baths.

Outdoors, “they’re almost acting like little Swiffers, getting allergens on their skin, and it goes through their skin and actually becomes a problem,” Schick said. “We say bathe your dog, at a minimum, once a week if they’re allergic.”

After she’s tried nearly everything, Friedman’s dogs are still vexed by allergies. But they’re doing better.

“I’m going to keep experimenting until we find what stops it completely,” she said. “All you can do is try.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

A lawsuit accuses Macalester College of violating state consumer fraud laws “by advertising itself as a model of compliance” with ethical animal research guidelines, while killing small animals in “outdated” psychology courses.

The civil complaint was filed Tuesday in Hennepin County District Court by Dr. Neal Barnard, a 1975 Macalester psychology graduate and medical doctor who founded the Washington D.C.-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit group that advocates for alternatives to animal testing.

Barnard, while preparing to celebrate his 50th college reunion, discovered the school “continues to kill large numbers of animals every year in mechanical devices designed more than 100 years ago,” the nonprofit group says in a Tuesday news release.

A billboard campaign against its practices is also planned for St. Paul. A spokesman for the group said one will go up this week near Snelling and Selby avenues that reads, “Macalester Psychology Education: Outdated, unethical” and shows a rat in a Skinner box. A second one is planned for next week three blocks south.

Macalester has not immediately responded to a request for comment Tuesday.

Macalester psychology courses use small metal “Skinner boxes,” invented by psychologist B.F. Skinner in the 1920s, to force the animals deprived of food or water for long periods to perform a variety of acts to get the food or water they need to survive, the complaint says. Afterward, the animals are killed.

“As a psychology major in 1972, I participated in those old-fashioned exercises,” Barnard says in the release. “At the end of each laboratory series, the animals were tossed into a trash can, chloroform was poured over them, and the lid was closed.”

Investigating behavior and brain function have evolved dramatically since then and teaching methods, including computer models and hands-on classroom exercises with human participants, have largely replaced the use of animals in psychology education, the complaint says.

“On information and belief, Macalester continues to use and kill small, vulnerable animals in psychology laboratory exercises whose objectives can easily be met without animals,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit alleges one count each of fraudulent misrepresentation, false statement in advertisement and unlawful practices. It seeks, among other actions, an order compelling Macalester “to cease its use of animal laboratories in psychology instruction and in all other areas for which non-animal methods are available.”

Meetings went nowhere

According to the complaint, Macalester reached out to Barnard and other Class of 1975 graduates two years ago about a 50th college reunion, asking for donations for activities and whether they were interested in planning them.

Barnard went to Macalester’s website on 50th reunions, then found the school’s page on research policies and procedures. It lists the college’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, which “acts to review and ensure that animal welfare standards and ethical principles are applied at the highest possible level in any animal use or research conducted at or in association with the college.”

The webpage, which includes two links for charitable donations to Macalester and one for prospective students to apply to the college, says the committee derives its authority from the law, mandated by the Health Research Extension Act of 1985 and the Animal Welfare Act.

Barnard contacted Macalester psychology department chair Jaine Strauss to request an in-person meeting to find out whether the school uses live animals and “Skinner boxes” in its psychology courses.

Barnard, who lives in Maryland, met Strauss in Minnesota in May 2024. In response to Barnard’s questions, Strauss confirmed the department continues its Skinner-inspired animal laboratories as part of the introductory psychology course and other courses, the complaint alleges.

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Barnard “shared his view” to Strauss that the “Three Rs” prohibit such activities. The complaint says accepted ethical principles regarding the use of animals in science, called the “Three Rs” — for replacement, reduction and refinement — have been incorporated into regulations that implement the federal Animal Welfare Act, as well as the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, adherence to which is mandatory for activities covered by the federal Health Research Extension Act.

Strauss told Barnard that Macalester’s IACUC, which oversees all scientific uses of animals by the college, is “very careful” in its work, the complaint says.

Barnard sent a follow-up email to Strauss that month outlining his concerns, expecting she would take them to the committee “and, in compliance with the Three Rs, replace the use of animals with other methods of study,” the complaint says.

Barnard, believing the college was open to reform, then accepted an invitation to join Macalester’s Class of 1975 Planning Committee and serve on its Gift Subcommittee. In his role from July 30 through Nov. 1, Barnard made phone calls, sent emails and mailed postal letters to fellow Macalester alumni assigned to him by Macalester’s fundraising staff to solicit charitable donations.

Meanwhile, Barnard did not receive any email or written response from Strauss as to any decision regarding replacing the use of animals as required by the Three Rs, the complaint says.

Barnard met with Macalester president Suzanne Rivera and Macalester vice provost Paul Overvoorde on Nov. 6 to discuss his concerns. The next day Barnard and Rivera spoke briefly in person, with Rivera stating she had forwarded his concerns to appropriate people. Later that same day, Barnard participated in person in another gift subcommittee meeting and afterward donated $100 to the school.

Rivera emailed Barnard on Dec. 2, instructing him to direct all future communications on animal use matters to Macalester’s legal counsel.

Barnard relied on Macalester’s “false statements” in joining the school’s Class of 1975 Planning Committee, as well as its Gift Subcommittee, and donating to the school.

The publication of Barnard’s name on Macalester’s website, “while (the school) refuses to apply the Three Rs ethical principles to its animal use program, harms the reputation of “Barnard), who has worked for decades to end the use of animals in such settings,” the complaint continues.

According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, Barnard previously worked on a child psychiatry ward at Fairview Hospital in Minneapolis; completed medical school and psychiatry residency at the George Washington University in Washington D.C.; presided over an outpatient psychiatric clinic at the George Washington University; and maintained a private practice in psychiatry, among other achievements.

‘Major victories’

The group, which Barnard founded in 1985 and has 17,000 doctor members, boasts online of its “major victories” over the past two decades, including all medical schools in the U.S. and Canada stopping the use of live animals to train medical students, and the National Institutes of Health stopping its experiments on chimpanzees.

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In 2019, the group filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture against Mayo Clinic alleging it was violating the federal Animal Welfare Act by using pigs in once-a-year emergency medical training. Mayo Clinic later confirmed that it had changed its policy.

Earlier that year, Hennepin Healthcare ended the use of live animals for teaching emergency medicine residents, according to the nonprofit. Previously, Hennepin Healthcare used up to 150 sheep and 150 rabbits each year to teach invasive procedures like drilling a hole into an animal’s skull and opening the chest cavity to access the heart.

Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced it was phasing out animal testing in the development of monoclonal antibody therapies and other drugs with “more effective, human-relevant methods.”