9.1 Million Viewers Send Off TNT's THE CLOSER

TNT's blockbuster series The Closer ended its extraordinary seven-season run last night with 9,075,000 viewers in Live + Same Day, making it cable's #1 series telecast for the summer-to-date.

The Closer's finale was followed by the debut of TNT's newest drama, Major Crimes, which brought in 7,184,000 viewers in Live + Same Day to rank as cable's #1 new series launch for the year-to-date. TNT has now charted cable's Top 3 new series launches of 2012, with Major Crimes followed by the June 13 premiere of Dallas (6.9 million viewers) and the July 9 debut of Perception (5.6 million viewers).

Since premiering in 2005, The Closer has assembled a remarkable string of successes. The award-winning drama is the only series in cable history to rank #1 for five consecutive years, which it did from 2005 to 2009. This year, The Closer is once again topping the charts as cable's most-watched series for the summer-to-date.

Within the pantheon of The Closer's many highly rated episodes, last night's series finale is the drama's second-most-watched episode ever. It ranks closely behind the show's September 2007 midseason finale, which drew 9,207,000 viewers in Live + Same Day. The finale is expected to surpass that episode's Live + 7 delivery (9,948,000) when final data becomes available in two weeks.

Among key demos, last night's finale of The Closer averaged more than 2 million adults 18-49 and 2.7 million adults 25-54 in Live + Same Day. The premiere of Major Crimes brought in 1.5 million adults 18-49 and 2.0 million adults 25-54. In both demos, it now ranks behind Dallas among cable's top new drama series launches for the year-to-date, with Perception coming in third among adults 25-54.

Starting next Monday, Major Crimes will move into The Closer's timeslot at 9 p.m. (ET/PT), followed by all-new episodes of Perception at 10 p.m. (ET/PT).

For seven memorable seasons, Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson and the LAPD's Major Crimes unit have closed some of television's most intriguing, mind-bending and surprising cases. This summer, Johnson and her team faced their final cases together as the record-breaking blockbuster series starring Emmy(R) winner Kyra Sedgwick came to an end. Sedgwick has been joined by The Closer's extraordinary Screen Actors Guild Award(R)-nominated cast includes Jon Tenney as Brenda's husband, FBI Special Agent Fritz Howard; J.K. Simmons as Police Chief Will Pope; Corey Reynolds as Detective Sergeant David Gabriel; Robert Gossett as Commander Taylor; G.W. Bailey as Lieutenant Provenza; Tony Denison as Lieutenant Andy Flynn, Michael Paul Chan as Lieutenant Mike Tao, Raymond Cruz as Detective Julio Sanchez and Phillip P. Keene as audio-visual technician Buzz Watson. Two-time Oscar(R) nominee Mary McDonnell also starred in The Closer as Captain Sharon Raydor, the role she continues to play in Major Crimes.

The Closer is produced for TNT by The Shephard/Robin Company, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The series was created by James Duff, who serves as executive producer with Greer Shephard, Michael M. Robin, Kyra Sedgwick and Rick Wallace.

TNT's all-new drama series Major Crimes is taking television's favorite squad of detectives into bold new territory. Two-time Oscar(R) nominee Mary McDonnell stars in the series, continuing her Emmy(R)-nominated role from The Closer. Joining her are fellow Closer veterans G.W. Bailey, Tony Denison, Michael Paul Chan, Raymond Cruz and Phillip P. Keene. In addition, Robert Gossett, Jon Tenney and Jonathan Del Arco will guest-star in several episodes. The series also stars Graham PatRick Martin as Rusty, a homeless juvenile whose character will be introduced in the final episode of The Closer, and Kearran Giovanni as Detective Amy Sykes, an ambitious undercover police detective and military veteran who served in Afghanistan. While The Closer's focus has been on the lead character's uncanny ability to secure airtight confessions from suspects, Major Crimes centers on what it takes to secure an airtight conviction.

Major Crimes is produced by The Shephard/Robin Company, in association with Warner Bros. Television. The Closer's James Duff, Greer Shephard, Michael M. Robin, and Rick Wallace serve as executive producers on the new series.

TNT, one of cable's top-rated networks, is television's destination for drama. Seen in 99 million households, TNT is home to such original drama series as Rizzoli & Isles, Falling Skies, Dallas, Perception, Major Crimes, Franklin & Bash, Leverage, Southland and the upcoming Monday Mornings. The network also features dramatic unscripted originals like this summer's The Great Escape and the upcoming Boston Blue (Working Title) and 72 Hours (Working Title). In addition, TNT is the cable home to popular dramas like The Mentalist, Bones, Supernatural, Las Vegas, Law & Order and Castle, which starts this year; primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards(R); blockbuster movies; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR, the NBA and the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news; entertainment; animation and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

To post a comment, you must register and login.