The summer is finally here, and so is the exciting fourth-season of hit TNT crime dramedy Leverage on June 26 at 9pm ET.

Titled “The Long Way Down Job,” the summer premiere features guest star Eric Stoltz (of the recently departed Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica) as a missing millionaire. Our favorite team of clever cons head to the frigid and treacherous mountains of Alaska to track him down when they learn of his predicament.

Of course, once on-site of his last known whereabouts, they quickly realize there’s much more to his disappearance than they initially thought. The episode features the familiar banter and teamwork between the group of regulars, as well as an unexpected turn of events that mark a first for the series. Fans will not want to miss the latest adventure in the Leverage files, and newcomers will have no problems enjoying the action and fast-paced plot.

Take a behind-the scenes peek at the summer opener below before tuning in to the real thing.

The holiday season is upon us, and so is the first-ever Christmas-themed episode of hit TNT dramedy Leverage on Sunday, December 12, at 9pm ET.

Appropriately titled “The Ho Ho Ho Job,” the installment finds Team Nate attempting to do good by Santa and holiday shoppers on Christmas Eve in order to keep the season full of year-end cheer. Achieving that goal requires thwarting a no-good mall owner and his partner in crime, who are determined to take advantage of customers through a devious, spirit-killing scheme.

NewsRadio and Kids in the Hall vet Dave Foley plays the corrupt retail businessman, and Star Trek: The Next Generation fan favorite Wil Wheaton returns to reprise his role as daring hacker Colin “Chaos” Mason, who perturbed Team Nate previously during last season’s fun “The Two Live Crew Job” episode.

Sneak a two-minute peek at “The Ho Ho Ho Job” in the preview clip below. The episode is the first of three installments in Leverage‘s brief winter run, which ends next Sunday, December 19, with the two-part, back-to-back Season Three finale “The Big Bang Job” and “The San Lorenzo Job.” Good stuff.

…sort of.

It’s time, unfortunately, for TNT con dramedy Leverage to close the show’s third summer season, which happens tonight, September 5, with the night-before-Labor Day episode “The Morning After Job.”

As Team Nate continues its pursuit of the elusive criminal Damien Moreau, the members decide to trick a shady hedge fund manager into revealing important information by making him believe he has killed Parker. However, the situation takes an unexpected turn when the success of Team Nate’s scheme causes assassins to begin targeting the mark.

Sneak a peek at “The Morning After Job” in the following preview clip before the full episode bows at 9pm ET.

The next-to-last Summer 2010 episode of TNT con dramedy Leverage takes the members of Team Nate all the way overseas to (not so?) merry London.

English actor James Frain (True Blood, The Tudors) guest stars on the fresh August 29 installment called “The King George Job.” Team Nate takes off for the United Kingdom after our favorite benevolent criminals discover an associate of crooked financier Damien Moreau is using children to smuggle stolen artifacts. While the group is in London staging an elaborate scam at an auction house in order to catch the culprit, Sophie encounters a few unpleasant blasts from her own past.

Sneak a peek at “The King George Job” and guest star Frain in the preview video below.

Also new and watch-worthy on August 29 are the two-hour second-season finale of Lifetime legal dramedy Drop Dead Diva (“Bad Girls” and “Freeze the Day” from 9pm–11pm ET) and the 62nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards on NBC (8pm–11pm, hourlong Red Carpet special at 7pm).

TNT con dramedy Leverage gets nostalgic during the brand-new August 22 episode called “The Rashomon Job.”

After the various members of Team Nate realize they all attempted to steal the same darn thing at the same darn time five years ago, their respective memories of the event and their lives way back then help them understand why their current alliance-in-crime is so much better. Heck, we wouldn’t even have a show without them teamed up.

Sneak a peek at “The Rashomon Job” below before tuning in to the entire episode at 9pm ET.

Prolific television presence and X-Men actor Bruce Davison guest stars on the fresh August 15 episode of TNT con dramedy Leverage called “The Underground Job.”

When a mine explodes and leaves dead victims in its wake, Nate & Company go undercover in West Virginia to take down the crooked owner of the mine (Davison). As usually, however, while at work they learn that much more is at stake than it initially seems.

Preview “The Underground Job” in the following sneak peek, before the episode’s 9pm ET premiere.

Picket Fences veteran and recent Closer guest star Tom Skerritt dops by for a significant visit during the new August 8 episode of TNT dramedy Leverage called “The Three-Card Monte Job.”

Skerritt has the great fortune of being cast as Jimmy Ford, who just happens to be Nate’s daddy. Can you feel the love — cough, cough, snicker — already?

The occasion for the elder Ford’s appearance is Team Nate’s latest case, which focuses on a group of businessmen coerced into becoming criminals, thanks to a scheme that heavily involves — drumroll, please — Jimmy. This con is going to get personal methinks.

A preview for “The Three-Card Monte Job” follows with a brief glimpse of Skerritt at work. Catch the full episode’s premiere at 9pm ET.

Friday, July 30, was an excellent day for a trio of TNT original series. That’s when the basic-cable network officially announced the renewal of its hits series Leverage, Rizzoli & Isles, and The Closer.

Now that the pickups are a done deal, fans can expect 15 new episodes of Leverage and The Closer during their fourth and seventh seasons, respectively. Meanwhile, rookie series Rizzoli & Isles will have 13 fresh episodes in its sophomore season. The new seasons of all three shows will premiere sometime in 2011.

Said TNT Executive Vice President and Head of Programming Michael Wright:

TNT has enjoyed tremendous success on Sunday and Monday nights with Leverage, The Closer and Rizzoli & Isles. All three shows feature terrific casts, sharp writing and top-notch production teams. We look forward to continued success with new seasons in 2011.

So do I, Mr. Wright. These renewals are great developments. Still waiting on Memphis Beat, though.

Blue Collar Comedy veteran Bill Engvall drops the funny stuff temporarily while guest starring on the fresh August 1 episode of TNT original dramedy Leverage called “The Boost Job.”

The former star of Blue Collar TV and the TBS sitcom The Bill Engvall Show portrays bad guy Duke Penzer during his latest gig. Penzer is a slick, gold chain-wearing criminal who poses as a car dealer to hide and further his real profession: stealing cars for personal gain. The dude has an entire operation and staff devoted to that and nothing else.

Of course, when the members of Team Nate get wind of what’s going on — thanks to one of Penzer’s victims — they execute the perfect con to take him down without him suspecting a thing until it’s much too late. Engvall may not be playing for laughs during the episode, but he makes a pretty effective Leverage crook. Perhaps he should consider taking on more “serious” roles in the future.

Sneak a peek at “The Boost Job” in the preview clip below. The episode premieres at 9pm ET.

Next on TNT con dramedy Leverage is the fresh July 25 episode “The Gone-Fishin’ Job,” featuring film and television veteran Clancy Brown (SpongeBob SquarePants, Earth 2, The Shawshank Redemption).

As expected given his penchant for creepy bad-guy roles, Brown plays the latest crook to get in the crosshairs of Team Nate. Although the members initially believe the persistent debt collector is just another run-of-the-mill ruthless, money-hungry criminal, they soon learn he actually has another far more sinister “hobby” on the sidelines: financially supporting a militia group that loves playing with firearms.

Unfortunately, that discovery comes just a little too late for certain members of the team, who wind up in a dangerous situation with no warning as a result. Instead of breaking down the details and spoiling all of the fun, let me just say that Alec and Eliot spend a lot of quality time together during this installment. And Brown, of course, makes a thoroughly convincing villain who gets just what he deserves at the end.

Sneak a peek at “The Gone-Fishin’ Job” in the following preview video before the episode premieres at 9pm ET.