Of course, success in cable is relative. Unlike broadcast, where tens of millions of viewers can create a sensation, cable networks are usually focusing on their core viewers who occupy a relatively narrow demographic or psychographic target. Interest those viewers and you can afford a house in the Hamptons. Miss, and you're on the beach.Here's what viewers will be tuning into this summer, who these new shows will most likely reach and when these sure-to-be-hit shows will debut.

MONK
USA: Starts July 12, 9 p.m. EST; Fridays 10 p.m. EST

Target Demo: Adults 25-54 - As the longest-running general entertainment cable network, USA always has tried to be all things to all people. But now, it is scrambling to find a broad-based hit it can build into a recognizable franchise.To solve that problem, USA is mining one of TV's richest lodes by creating a detective show. Whodunits have long been a staple of TV, and cable TV has mostly thrived by rerunning a number of shows with sleuths who solved their cases originally on broadcast, such as Law & Order and Murder She Wrote.Many of TV's crime solvers have had quirky personalities, most notably the perpetually disheveled and befuddled Columbo; USA knows, to stand out, there's got to be a gimmick.In USA's new show Monk, Tony Shalhoub portrays what the network calls a first: a cop with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Shalhoub plays Adrian Monk, who, since the murder of his wife (the case is unsolved), has been suspended from the force because his condition renders him dysfunctional.Monk is trying to win reinstatement with the S.F.P.D., and he's assigned a case in the first episode. He immediately shows off his brilliance, drawing astonishing conclusions from clues other detectives overlook. Yet his disorder breeds contempt from some colleagues who scoff at "the defective detective," and disbelief from those being investigated. As one exclaims: "He's afraid of heights, he's afraid of germs, he's afraid of the dark, he's afraid of milk--and he's going to solve crimes?"Despite his peculiarities, Shalhoub's Monk is likable. And the nurse who's working with him to overcome his condition provides a foil who could turn into a potential love interest down the road.The question is, will viewers feel compelled to watch or look away?