Here's the thing -- like I mentioned, Royal Pains is pure summer fun, and it's always been able to recognize that about itself. But it's good summer fun. It's actually running opposite Franklin & Bash on TNT this summer, which is another buddy comedy --- but everything I like about Royal Pains is what I didn't like about Franklin & Bash. Royal Pains' bromance seems sincere, it's fun without being over-the-top and frat-tastic, there are sympathetic characters, and just the right amount of weight put on certain storylines. If Royal Pains is the Hamptons, Franklin & Bash is Coney Island.

However, last season Royal Pains got a little too Hamptons -- that is, it got a little weighed down by said storylines; it lost steam. Jill and Hank have never had enough chemistry to make us care about them, so the show needs to stop pretending like their relationship status is important. Divya was obviously never going to leave the Hamptons and marry Raj, so the show needs to stop pretending that was ever an option. Evan is a lot more fun single than he is obsessed with Paige, so the show needs to put an end to that relationship altogether. And Boris was one of the strongest characters on Royal Pains, but instead the focus shifted to Hank and Evan's daddy issues with Eddie R, which was a big mistake. Things just got too heavy-handed, the show got too wrapped up in itself, and seemed to forget that it's not supposed to (and not good at) being, well, important. It needed to get back to the fun.

So that's what I was looking for last night. As we began, Hank's VO told us that "It's the first day of a brand new summer." So far so good. Hank (and the show) seem to be suggesting that it is what we were hoping for -- a fresh start. And three minutes in, our wishes are granted -- there' are a slew of new patients and the issues I mentioned above were being tackled head-on. Much of the hour was spent figuring out those issues -- the ones that lasted the entirety of last season. Hank and Jill, Divya and Raj, Evan and Paige, Boris, Eddie R -- I'm happy to announce that four out of five were taken care of by the end of the hour.

So it seems like we're up and running. And hopefully, it'll stay that way -- everything (for the time being) is back in its right place. This still leaves room for drama, of course, which is what we want -- but new drama and not old.

Watch TWoP's editors preview July's must-see TV shows in this segment airing on the New York Nonstop cable news channel:

View more videos at: http://www.nbcnewyork.com.

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