The USA Network will be a mostly macho place next season.
It will also be mostly unscripted, at least among its original (non-rerun) shows. The network — which once debuted “Monk,” “Psych,” “Suits” and “Mr. Robot” — has plans next season for exactly one scripted original –continuing “Chucky,” the killer-doll tale.
Instead, USA seems to reflect the success of its Monday and Tuesday wrestling, via the WWE. (One new show will be hosted by WWE star Nikki Bella, shown here; a returning reality show features a WWE couple.) It also reflects an expanded sports line-up, now that sister channel NBC Sports Network has folded. The announcements for next season include:
REALITY
— “Barmageddon,” hosted by Bella, will be at Blake Shelton’s bar in Nashville. Shelton and Carson Daly will be there, with celebrity friends competing in offbeat games.
— Three shows involve outdoor survival. “The Chain: Alaska” is set in the Aleutian Alaskan islands … “Winter Watchmen,” also in Alaska, will have four pairs of survivalists protecting their lodges … “Snake in the Grass,” hosted by Bobby Bones, dumps four strangers into the wild.
— “Rust Hunters” is sort of like a house-flipping show, except that this mult-generation business buys and flips old vehicles and antiques in backwoods New Hampshire.
— Also, “Chrisley Knows Best” returns on June 23; later, it will start its 10th season.
SPORTS
— Alongside wrestling and the reality show “Miz & Mrs.,” USA has golf (U.S. Open), soccer (Premier League), cycling (Tour de France) and the World Athletics Championships, a track-and-field event to be held in the U.S. for the first time.
— And it has NASCAR, plus two related shows. “Race for the Championship” looks at the lives of several drivers; “Austin Dillon’s Life in the Fast Lane” views one of the most colorful ones.