TNT announces return dates of several shows

TNT Announces Summer Schedule, Including Season Premieres of The Closer and Rizzoli & Isles and Series Debuts of Falling Skies and Franklin & Bash

TNT has unveiled its summer schedule, including the Monday, July 11, return of basic cable’s top two series of all time: The Closer, starring 2010 Emmy® winner Kyra Sedgwick, and Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon (Law & Order) and Sasha Alexander (NCIS). TNT’s summer lineup also includes the network’s two newest series, with the two-hour Sunday, June 19, premiere of the science fiction drama series Falling Skies, starring Noah Wyle (ER) and produced by DreamWorks Television and executive-producer Steven Spielberg, and the Wednesday, June 1, premiere of the light-hearted legal drama series Franklin & Bash, starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar (NYPD Blue) and Breckin Meyer (Road Trip). Also returning this summer are the TNT original series Men of a Certain Age, Leverage, HawthoRNe and Memphis Beat.

Below is a complete rundown of TNT’s original series premiere schedule for summer 2011. Artwork for TNT’s original series can be accessed here.

New Series:
Franklin & Bash – Series premiere Wednesday, June 1, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) – Season 1: 10 episodes
Mark-Paul Gosselaar (NYPD Blue) and Breckin Meyer (Road Trip) star in this light-hearted legal drama as two fly-by-the seat-of-their-pants lawyers working for a button-down law firm. Malcom McDowell (Heroes, Entourage) also stars as the head of their firm.

Falling Skies – Two-hour series premiere Sunday, June 19, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT); regular timeslot Sundays at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) – Season 1: 10 episodes
Noah Wyle (ER) stars in this gripping drama series from DreamWorks Television and executive producer Steven Spielberg about the aftermath of an alien invasion and the resistance movement formed by the survivors.

Returning Series:
Men of a Certain Age – Premiere: Wednesday, June 1, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) – Season 2 continues: Six summer episodes
Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond), Scott Bakula (Quantum Leap) and Andre Braugher (Homicide: Life on the Street) star in this acclaimed drama series about three men facing the challenges of midlife.

Memphis Beat – Premiere: Tuesday, June 14, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) – Season 2: 10 episodes
Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl) stars as a Memphis police detective with an intimate connection to the city, a passion for its music and a very demanding boss. Alfre Woodard (True Blood) and DJ Qualls (Hustle & Flow) also star.

HawthoRNe – Premiere: Tuesday, June 14, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) – Season 3: 10 episodes
This powerful drama series stars Jada Pinkett Smith (The Matrix trilogy) as Christina Hawthorne, the impassioned Chief Nursing Officer at James River Hospital, with Michael Vartan (Alias) and new cast member Marc Anthony (El Cantate) also starring.

Leverage – Premiere: Sunday, June 26, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) – Season 4: 10 summer episodes
Timothy Hutton (Ordinary People) stars as the head oftelevision’s coolest gang of thieves, grifters and con artists out to help everyday people get even against the big shots who have destroyed their lives.

The Closer – Premiere: Monday, July 11, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) – Season 7: 10 summer episodes
TNT’s record-breaking series returns this summer with 2010 Emmy winner Kyra Sedgwick as Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson.

Rizzoli & Isles – Premiere: Monday, July 11, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT) – Season 2: 10 summer episodes
Last summer, Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander proved two heads are better than one in this drama series based on the crime novels by best-selling author Tess Gerritsen. As Boston detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Maura Isles, the pair share a quirky chemistry and put away some of Boston’s most notorious criminals.

Last summer, TNT ranked as basic cable’s #1 network in delivery of its targeted adults 25-54 demographic. The network also grew its overall audience delivery for the summer by 6%. Leading the network’s growth was the Monday night pairing of The Closer and Rizzoli & Isles, which combined to make TNT the first cable network ever to claim two original series with more than 8 million viewers. Leverage scored growth in its new Sunday night timeslot, while HawthoRNe and Memphis Beat ranked as cable’s top Tuesday-night scripted series among women 25-54.

Source: TNT