Is there hope for the mindless diversion called summer TV?

Television producers’ attempts at a summer line up often fall flat compared to what comes in… Television producers’ attempts at a summer line up often fall flat compared to what comes in autumn. However, here’s a list of some popular shows you may want to check out, should you find yourself at home on a rainy Pittsburgh evening.

One reality show currently on air is “Pirate Master.” From the creator of “Survivor,” Mark Burnett, this show pits 16 aspiring buccaneers against each other in an attempt to win the $500,000 treasure. Their summer residence is a 179-foot pirate ship, and you can ponder where the rum’s gone every Tuesday at 10 p.m. on CBS.

One upcoming new reality show is “Fat March,” which premieres on ABC August 7. Competing for 1.2 million dollars, 12 overweight people begin at the starting line for the Boston Marathon and march more than 570 miles to Washington, D.C. with two personal trainers along for the ride. A beautiful blend of “Survivor” meets “Super Size Me?” Not so much.

Bill Weir will host an ABC program called “i-CAUGHT,” beginning August 6. Weir will investigate the story behind increasingly popular web images and videos, as well as the effect the viewing has on the images’ owners and subjects. While it sounds a lot like something that would only be popular among fans of “Wired,” Weir has a chance to come up with something that is a lot more interesting than if the same show were on “Dateline.”

“Set for Life” begins July 20 and features Jimmy Kimmel as host of a game show in which contestants can win a monthly allowance for one month, three years, 20 years or up to 40 years. Unlike “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” there are no questions or trivia, but you do have to know when to stop. What you win depends on your partner’s actions, but he or she doesn’t join you until the end of the game. Sound confusing? A bit. It’s also one to avoid if you’re sick of watching talentless people win money. The show airs every Friday at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Another game show featured on CBS and hosted by Drew Carey is “The Power of 10.” Contestants must guess America’s answer to poll questions like “How many Americans believe they are smarter than President Bush?” The first question is worth $1,000 and each of the five subsequent questions increase 10 times in value, with the potential for the contestant to walk away with $10 million. While Regis had everyone in America waiting to see who would win the million-dollar question, I doubt this show will bring in as much hype. It might force us instead to turn to reruns of “Family Feud.”

Fox will feature a new show on Tuesdays called “Anchorwoman,” beginning August 21. Lauren Jones stars as the only person who can save a tiny Texas news station from failure. The catch is that she’s a former model covering county fairs and cowpie-tossing contests for the first time in her life. Some potential here, but not much. Others in the cast include Annalisa Petraglia, Dan Delgado, Michelle Reese and Phil Hurley.

VH1 and MTV have some interesting-looking programs this summer as well. “I Hate My 30s,” premiering Thursday, July 26, at 10:30 p.m. should be popular as fans of “I Love the 80s” transition into the life stage where work stinks and relationships grow stale.

Following the theme of dreams unmet, “Scott Baio is 45 … and Single” premieres Sunday, July 15, on VH1 and reviews Baio’s unlucky love life. He will fight his mid-life crisis for eight weeks with the help of life coach Doc Ali. This feels wrong on several levels, one being the very fact that anyone would subject himself to this on television, and the other being the fact that anyone would actually watch it happen when we can see it transpire in the lives of normal people every day.

Produced by Ashton Kutcher, the new thriller “Room 401” premieres July 17 at 10 p.m. on MTV. Each episode will feature four mini horror movies in which the actors are completely unaware that the chain-saws and corpses coming at them aren’t real. The impressive part is that it’s live and not edited for effects, but the un-impressive part is that it’s hard to believe the actors don’t know what’s going on.

For returning shows, Fox is bringing back “Nanny 911” for its fourth season on Thursday at 9 p.m., as well as “Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader” at 8 p.m. If you didn’t watch them the first time around, I wouldn’t start now. Same with “Big Brother 8,” which airs on CBS at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.