Well, it’s official. Cable has won summer.

Breakout hits are all over the place. Royal Pains is the most surprising of all, a sparsely promoted show that hit the escapist’s sweet spot: money and babes with some hospital drama thrown in for good measure. It’s so hot its ratings are actually growing week-to-week, which never happens anymore. USA Network has done a brilliant job making solid, pulpy shows using character actors and forgotten TV stars: Debra Messing, Mary McCormack (”West Wing”), Jeffrey Donovan (a.k.a. “that douchebag” in Hitch and other stuff), and now Royal Pains‘ sexy Mark Feuerstein (a.k.a. that guy from all those shows you forgot about). I had my reservations about Feuerstein in a leading role, and it’s definitely rough-going half the time, but he’s doing just fine. Royal Pains is good boobs-and-cars fun.

HawthoRNe, Jada Pinkett-Smith’s new show, also did very well and should give TNT something to feel happy about other than its unstoppable dynamo of a show The Closer — and one of the few shows on TV with a black female lead; come on cable, Age-of-Obama much!

Add to this mix the shocking rise of True Blood, whose premiere gave HBO its highest ratings for a single program since the series finale of The Sopranos and actually cracked the Cable top 20 last week. I blame OnDemand and DVD sales. But who cares how it happened? It’s a fun, pulpy show about the rise of the oppressed classes and the death of the South. That’s always good.

Not to mention Weeds, helmed by Mary Louise Parker, still the most stunning brunette on TV, and Nurse Jackie, another great show about a woman in charge who’s losing her mind. HBO’s much-balleyhooed Hung, about a guy who uses his large, um, endowment to raise his funds, comes (pun-intended) next week. Plus, Entourage is around the corner and Mad Men won’t hit the air until August!

Summer is here, and it’s hot inside.

Meanwhile, the networks are dumping the final episodes of their good-but-not-good-enough programs, so please check them out online: Kings, Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Cupid, and Eli Stone all get their send-offs at weird times when you’re not watching TV. May they rest in peace.