‘White Collar’ season 5 spoilers: Matt Bomer’s return date set by USA

The wait for more of Neal and Peter is finally over … or at least the wait to find out when they will be back on TV is. Thursday, USA confirmed that the fifth season of their hit drama “White Collar” will premiere on Thursday, October 17 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. This is just enough time for you to decide that there is nothing particularly interesting going on when it comes to network shows on the fall schedule, and to jump back in to something that is familiar and high-quality.

There is really no surprise that this ended up being the show’s return date, given that the show clearly wanted to give enough time to have a solid run of episodes in the fall, and then a batch left over for the spring. Thanks to create Jeff Eastin’s duties also working on “Graceland,” this season is only going to be thirteen episodes.

Meanwhile, USA also confirmed that “Covert Affairs” would return on the same day in order to finish out the rest of its season. This marks a move back to a familiar timeslot for Piper Perabo and the rest of the cast, which also suggests to us that the second half of “White Collar” in the spring will probably air alongside the last few weeks of “Suits” season 3, which is currently airing on Tuesday nights.

“White Collar’s” got some great storylines coming up this year, including Peter’s quest to clear his name, and how Neal is going to be in a surprising position where he has to help the man that has previously been his guardian angel in some ways. We’ve also got some more scoop here about some of the adversaries that we’re going to see him face off against this season.

Photo: USA