Ian Bell, John Stewart Jr., Rich Graff, Anthony DiCarlo and Craig Rivela star in “Making of the Mob”

History in the making: AMC is making TV watchers an offer they can't refuse.

Monday, June 15, will see the premiere of "The Making of the Mob: New York" on the channel, and it's only one piece of the network's new "Mob Mondays" programming block.

The first episode of the new eight-part docu-drama will air immediately following a special 25th anniversary presentation of the classic mobster film "Goodfellas" (1990), starring Robert De Niro ("Silver Linings Playbook," 2012), Joe Pesci ("Casino," 1995) and Ray Liotta ("Hannibal," 2001).

Speaking of Liotta, the Emmy-winning actor will be narrating "The Making of the Mob: New York." Chronicling the rise of some of New York's most notorious mobsters over the span of 50 years, the series will follow Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Meyer Lansky and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel from their humble beginnings in neighborhood gangs to the tallest heights of criminal power.

The story will be woven together through a blend of archival footage, dramatic re-enactments and exclusive interviews. People whose lives have been touched by the mob in some way will be providing insight: Mob attorney and former Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman, former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Emmy-winning actress Drea de Matteo ("The Sopranos") and noted historian David Pietrusza will all be appearing throughout the series to provide their own anecdotes and insight.

Organized crime families have been a Hollywood fascination for decades, and "The Making of the Mob: New York" is just the latest piece of the mobster pie. As part of "Mob Mondays," each episode of the docu-drama will air following a classic mobster movie. With films such as "Casino" (1995), "Scarface" (1983), "American Gangster" (2007) and "The Godfather" (1972) all scheduled, some of the most acclaimed films of the past few decades will be leading into the new series.

It's an offer that fans of gangster movies won't be able to refuse. "The Making of the Mob: New York" and "Mob Mondays" get underway Monday, June 15, on AMC.

L'il barbershop of friends: Summertime is here! With the sweltering heat settling in for a good, long haul, is there any better place to be than in the air-conditioned living room, sitting in front of the TV?

At least, that's probably what a lot of TV executives are hoping people are feeling like. Summer always witnesses a bevy of new shows premiering across the wild west of televisionland, and while they're often the ones that didn't make the cut for the fall season, that doesn't mean that there isn't gold glittering on the TV screens.

One summertime premiere that's been attracting some buzz is TBS's new sitcom "Clipped," premiering Tuesday, June 16. Formerly called "Buzzy's" -- the name was changed late in production -- it's a comedy that's set in (surprise!) a barbershop.

Headlining the cast is the one who's causing all the buzz: Ashley Tisdale. Her name might not be familiar to a lot of audiences, but her voice certainly will be to most anyone with children. She's a prolific voice actor for children's shows, voicing Candace in "Phineas and Ferb" and Sabrina in "Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch" -- a role that's earned her a Daytime Emmy nomination. She's also starred in "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody," "High School Musical" (2006) and "Scary Movie 5" (2013).

"Clipped" is a show about a group of people who went to high school together but didn't really know each other -- they ran in different crowds. When they find themselves all working at the same barbershop, it becomes apparent that the divisions that spring up between groups in high school don't translate into the real world all that well.

"Clipped" premieres Tuesday, June 16, on TBS.

Sports excellence: Music has the Grammies. Movies have the Oscars. Musicals have the Tony Awards. But what about sports?

Well, sports fans will know that sports have the annual ESPY Awards -- the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards.

Presented by ESPN, the annual awards ceremony is typically broadcast on that network, but this year it's moving to the channel's sister network: ABC.

Being aired on one of the big three networks should net the awards ceremony an even bigger audience than it had in previous years, and its choice of host this time out certainly won't hurt in that regard, either.

Actor Joel McHale has been tapped to host the July 15 ceremony. He's best known for starring as Jeff in "Community" and for hosting the pop culture talk show "The Soup."

What he's less known for is the fact that he's a former athlete. McHale played for the University of Washington's football team for two years before his acting career took off.

The ESPY Awards are always a bit saucy, and, with McHale hosting, things could be more entertaining than ever. This year's ESPY Awards air Wednesday, July 15, on ABC.