Summertime is rerun time, right? Wrong -- not this year.

The 2003-04 television season is officially over, but that doesn't mean the small screen will be awash in reruns this summer.

Starting this week, viewers will see an unprecedented array of new off-season programs, from Tuesday's debut of Fox's courtroom drama "The Jury" to NBC's launch of the reality show "Next Action Star" June 14.

The reality/quiz show "Studio 7" will debut on the WB in July. CBS is trotting out new seasons of "Big Brother" and "The Amazing Race" next month, and ABC is returning with a new comedy/

drama "The Days." Why the big push away from repeats? Faced with increasing competition from cable, the broadcast networks -- which in the past essentially shut down during the summer -- have now been forced to embrace the concept of year-round programming.

Although the trend started a few years ago in the reality-show genre ("Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," "American Idol," and "Survivor"), this summer new scripted dramas and comedies will have a bigger presence than ever before.

"Now there are options where there weren't before," said Stuart Fischoff, a professor of media psychology at California State University in Los Angeles. "Of course, this is good for television. It's adventurous. But the networks have to give these shows time. For 40 years, nothing much was on. And summer is a time when people want to go outside. That's not going to change overnight."

Fox, which was successful in launching the drama "The O.C." last summer, is leading the summertime charge.

This month, the network is premiering six series, including "The North Shore, " a drama about the 20-something staff at a luxury hotel in Hawaii. On the comedy side, Andy Richter will star in "Quintuplets" as the harried father of five 15-year-olds. "Method & Red" features hip-hop artists Method Man and Redman as fictionalized versions of themselves living in a suburban neighorhood.

Mark Burnett will unveil his latest reality show, "The Casino," June 14, which follows the behind-the-scenes drama of the guests and employees of a Las Vegas casino. Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie will be back June 16 for a cross-country journey on "The Simple Life 2: Road Trip."

NBC's summer schedule is heavy on reality shows, new and returning, including "For Love or Money," "Last Comic Standing" and "Who Wants to Marry My Dad?" Last week the network gave the new sitcom "Come to Papa" a try as well.

Cable networks, which have long utilized the summer rerun season to launch new programs, have a full schedule ahead.

Beginning on Father's Day, June 20, Blair Underwood and Sabrina LeBeauf will star in Nick at Nite's first original animated series, "Fatherhood," which is based on Bill Cosby's 1986 book. The comedy, to be coproduced by Cosby, will follow the lives of a high school teacher, his wife, and their three children.

Sal Maniaci, vice president of development and production for the network, said "Fatherhood" is the first of a number of original series Nick at Nite hopes to introduce within the next year. Others being considered include "Exploding Baloney," a program in which teachers and parents plan pranks on their kids, and a new version of Art Linkletter's "Kids Say the Darndest Things."

The network, however, has no plans to abandon its base of sitcom reruns such as "Cheers," "Full House," and "Roseanne.

TBS -- which rebranded itself as the "very funny" comedy-dominated network last week -- plans to premiere "Outback Jack" June 22, in which 12 city women will compete for the attention of an Australian adventurer. On July 20, Bravo is unveiling "Things I Hate About You," an American version of a BBC series in which couples try to prove which partner is the most irritating to live with.

On Thursday, A&E debuted "The First 48," a weekly reality series that follows homicide detectives as they try to solve murders within 48 hours.

With an eye toward the upcoming presidential election, Showtime is introducing "American Candidate" Aug. 1. The reality series from filmmaker R. J. Cutler will allow participants to face off each week in challenges designed to distinguish who has the qualities to become president.

PBS's nonfiction film series "P.O.V." is also focused on election-year issues this season. Its documentaries will include "Last Man Standing: Politics Texas Style," a film by Paul Stekler that explores a pair of 2002 elections in Texas -- one for governor and one for state representative. Through interviews with former governor Ann Richards, Bush strategist Karl Rove, and others, the film demonstrates how local Texas politics are running parallel to today's national politics.

"Bill's Run: A Political Journey in Rural Kansas" chronicles a run for office in the Kansas House of Representatives by Bill Kassebaum, a rancher, attorney, and son of former US senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum. The filmmaker is Bill's older brother.

"Before the national conventions, we wanted to get people thinking about why politics matters on a human scale," said Cara Mertes, "P.O.V." executive director. "What you see in both of the films is two trends that mirror what's happening in local grass-roots politics. . . . You see the influence of religious affiliation. . . . Being a church-going Christian is very important if you're a candidate. And you see the way that people are tending to vote for who they like personally more than for the issues that are associated with those candidates."

Also on public television, WGBH-TV (Channel 2) is launching a new season of the "Mystery!" series July 11. In the latest adaptation of a Tony Hillerman novel, "A Thief of Time" will follow Navajo tribal policemen Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee as they battle artifact poachers. Peter Fonda stars; Robert Redford is the executive producer.

"Rebels and Redcoats: How Britain Lost America" is a two-part program on how the Revolutionary War divided the nation. It airs June 23 and 30.

"Frontline" will broadcast "The Plea" June 17, a documentary that explores the workings of the American justice system. Although a trial by a jury of one's peers is an American birthright, producer Ofra Bikel uncovers that almost 95 percent of all cases with a probability of a felony conviction never reach a jury but are settled instead by plea bargains in which the defendant pleads guilty and accepts a reduced sentence.

Bikel maintains that the plea bargains free up an overworked court system but innocent people are suffering and police work is not being checked.

"It's quite scandalous," said Bikel. "We say under our system that we are innocent until proven guilty, but it's just not true anymore, except on `Law & Order.' Very few people dare go to trial. You can if you want to, but if you're convicted, it's 25 years to life. If you give up a trial and say you're guilty, it's one year in jail. You may be innocent but we'll never hear your story. The police can say anything. When you plead, nothing is questioned."

Tonight , there will be a number of observances of the 60th anniversary of D-day. CNN is airing two specials: "D-Day: A Call to Courage," which features eyewitness accounts from former soldiers, and "Warsaw Rising: Forgotten Soldiers of World War II," which profiles the Polish resistance against the Nazis.

NECN is also airing "D-Day + 60: Return to Normandy," in which anchor R.D. Sahl traveled to Normandy and visited two beaches where American soldiers landed, an American cemetery, and the first village liberated by American troops. Back in Greater Boston, Sahl talked with four New England soldiers who were there.

"This is an important anniversary," said Sahl. "On the 50th anniversary, a lot of people thought it would be the last hurrah for survivors. But there are enough of these folks who are still around, and they are our last living link to an epic battle and a campaign that changed the course of the war and changed the course of history. We can't forget their stories."

Suzanne Ryan can be reached at sryan@globe.com