Summer TV is usually a wasteland filled with cactus dramas and tumbleweed reality shows. And this summer was no exception. Thankfully, there were a few oases in the desert of summer TV that slaked our thirst for TV until fall.

When Mel Gibson so impressively screamed for freedom at the end of “Braveheart,” it was stirring. When the United States freed itself from the claws of George III, we became a nation. When you are freed from the oppression of Washington University midterms, it is exhilarating. Freedom, therefore, of all shapes and sizes, appears to be a good thing.