THE CLOSER Fifth season to launch Monday, June 8, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT)

It’s going to be a year of change for Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson and her Major Crimes unit as TNT’s THE CLOSER returns for its fifth season. The record-breaking crime drama, which stars Golden Globe winner Kyra Sedgwick, continues to dominate the industry as ad-supported cable’s #1 series of all time. Sedgwick gives an unforgettable performance as Deputy Chief Johnson, a former Atlanta detective brought to Los Angeles to head a special LAPD homicide unit. She is a top-notch investigator with unparalleled interrogation skills and a track record for closing nearly every case with a suspect’s confession. On the home front, she’s not quite as adept at handling her personal relationships. Instead, work tends to take first priority in her life and even threatened to derail her wedding in the season-four finale.

This acclaimed series also features a stellar ensemble cast that has garnered three Screen Actors Guild Award ensemble nominations. Playing Brenda’s highly capable squad are Corey Reynolds (The Terminal), G.W. Bailey (M*A*S*H), Tony Denison (Melrose Place), Raymond Cruz (Collateral Damage), Michael Paul Chan (Arrested Development) and Phillip P. Keene (The D.A.). The series also stars Jon Tenney (The Division) as Brenda’s husband, FBI Agent Fritz Howard; J.K. Simmons (Juno, Burn After Reading) as her demanding boss, Will Pope; and Robert Gossett (Arlington Road) as the head of Robbery-Homicide, Commander Taylor.

Since its premiere in 2005, THE CLOSER has earned numerous ad-supported cable viewership records, ranking as the #1 series of all time and scoring the #1 series telecast of all time. Each year, the show’s audience grows larger, with its 2008 episodes averaging more than 7.3 million viewers. It is produced by the team behind Nip/Tuck.

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at 6:24 pm and is filed under News, The Closer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.