TNT Greenlights Edward Burns' Police Drama PUBLIC MORALS

TNT has greenlit Public Morals, the highly buzzed-about police drama from writer, director, executive producer and star Edward Burns (Saving Private Ryan, The Brothers McMullen, TNT's Mob City). Set in New York in the 1960s, Public Morals also stars Michael Rapaport (Justified, Prison Break) and Elizabeth Masucci (The Americans, Inside Amy Schumer). The series marks TNT's latest collaboration with Amblin Television, and executive producers Steven Spielberg, Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank, the team behind the network's hit series Falling Skies. Also executive-producing is Aaron Lubin, who has produced several of Burns' feature films.

TNT has ordered 10 episodes of Public Morals, which is set to premiere 2015. The series centers on New York City's Public Morals Division, where Cops walk the line between morality and criminality as the temptations that come from dealing with all kinds of Vice threaten to get the better of them. The show centers on Officer Terry Muldoon (Burns), who is determined to raise his sons to be honest and hardworking as he deals with the city's dark underbelly.

Rapaport plays Muldoon's partner, Charlie Bullman, the muscle of the Public Morals Division, and Masucci is Christine, Muldoon's wife. The cast also includes Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Castle, Low Winter Sun) as Lt. King; Wass M. Stevens (House of Cards, The Wrestler) as Vince Latucci; Keith Nobbs (In Plain Sight, The Pacific) as Pat Duffy; Austin Stowell (The Secret Life of an American Teenager, Behind the Candelabra) as Sean O'Bannon; Patrick Murney (Person of Interest, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) as Petey "Mac" McKenna; Katrina Bowden (30 Rock, Tucker & Dale vs. Evil) as Fortune; Lyndon Smith (Parenthood, 90210) as Deirdre; and Brian Wiles (Person of Interest) as Jimmy Shea.

Guest-starring in the pilot for Public Morals are Oscar(R)-winning actor Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People, TNT's Leverage) as Mr. O., a smooth Irish gangster, and Rob Knepper (Heroes, TNT's Mob City) as Inspector Flynn, a veteran boss on the verge of retirement.

"Edward Burns is one of my favorite filmmakers, and in Public Morals, he has created an incredibly authentic series, inspired by his own life growing up in a family of Cops in 1960s New York," said Michael Wright, president, head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM). "We've seen many stories about organized crime and corruption in the city, but this is a different way into that world as seen through the eyes of Irish-Americans, many of whom worked as police officers. We're also excited to have the inspired creative guidance of Steven Spielberg and our partners at Amblin Television on what is certain to be one of the most talked-about new series of 2015."

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