The middle-of-summer slump has been broken up by some new reasons to be a couch potato. The newest trend of binge-watching shows, brought to you by Netflix and cable, has been increasing in popularity during the past few months. It might be bad for our health, but that remains to be seen.

I’ve decided to keep the old and welcome the new during this summer TV season. Here are three shows to watch before you return to the old grind.

“Ray Donovan,” 10 p.m. on Sundays, Showtime

Three episodes into Season 1, and it’s still confusing. “Ray Donovan” is not a particularly easy show to watch. The content is dark and the characters are intense. The premiere became Showtime’s biggest ever, but the show was so heavily advertised during the past few months that its success was not incredibly surprising.

The show is based around the Donovan family. Ray (Liev Schreiber) works for a powerful law firm, but instead of practicing law, he just fixes rich people’s problems. And usually a lot of force and pain is involved.

[quote]Everyone in the show seems to be drawn to Ray. And you’ll probably feel that way, too.[/quote]

At the beginning of the show, the audience finds out Ray’s father, Mickey (Jon Voight), just got out of prison years earlier than expected. Everyone besides Ray accepts Mickey back into the family surprisingly well.

The best thing going for this show is the actors involved. Schreiber was born for this role. Do I hate him? Do I love him? Do I respect him? I change my mind every second. Voight plays an estranged father with just the right amount of certifiably messed-up flair. Ray’s wife, Abby (Paula Malcomson), may be the best character on the show. She’s straightforward, intense and doesn’t take anyone’s crap. Saying she’s strong is an understatement. Abby will do whatever is best for her family. And their kids? Well, they clearly have issues that are going to get played out throughout the course of the season.

Overall, this show seems to keep drawing me in week after week even though it’s tough to watch. This isn’t a particularly feel-good family show, even though you’ll find yourself laughing quite a bit. Everyone in the show seems to be drawn to Ray. And you’ll probably feel that way, too.

My grade: B+

“Orange Is the New Black,” Netflix

This is the second of Netflix’s binge-watching summer shows. The first was “Arrested Development,” and if you haven’t watched the newest season, stop reading and log onto Netflix now.

“Orange Is the New Black” has already been renewed for its second season. It’s based off Piper Kerman’s memoir of the same name.

The show follows Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), a preppy white woman from Connecticut who has to surrender herself into prison for 15 months. In college, Piper once transported money for her international drug-smuggling lesbian lover (Laura Prepon). She was 22, young and in love. But now, she’s paying for it with a crazy but pretty incredible cast of characters.

There are prison and inmate romances, fights, death threats and more. The words “and more” in this case really don’t do the show justice. But here’s the kicker: Piper’s fiance (Jason Biggs) is waiting for her on the outside while her ex-lesbian lover is in prison by her side. Watching Piper try to figure out this balance is entertaining, to say the least.

I absolutely loved this show, but it can get pretty graphic at times, so think twice about watching it on full volume while you get lunch at Lakeside.

My grade: A

“Dexter,” 9 p.m. on Sundays, Showtime

The killer with the moral compass (Michael C. Hall) comes back for his eighth blood-filled season. Now, his sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter) not only knows all of his dirty secrets, but she’s become a murderer herself.

[quote]For once, the show isn’t about Dexter almost getting found out, and that’s a nice change of pace.[/quote]

So obviously she’s going to go a little crazy. It’s only natural when you find out your brother is a serial killer, right? She’s got herself a new job, a new man (at least for a little while) and a new life.

The most interesting addition to the show is undoubtedly Dr. Evelyn Vogel (Charlotte Rampling), the psychologist who made up Dexter’s father’s moral killing code. She knows absolutely everything about him. We’re still not sure if she’s good or bad for Dexter – all we know is that one of her other ex-patients is out to kill her. And Dexter needs to get to him first. For once, the show isn’t about Dexter almost getting found out, and that’s a nice change of pace.

If you’ve been a fan of past seasons, definitely tune into Season 8. If you’re new to the show, you may want to marathon the first seven seasons before diving headfirst into this summer’s current episodes.

My grade: B+