TNT Picks Up Drama Series Starring Bill Irwin, Alfred Molina

TNT has greenlit MONDAY MORNINGS, a powerful new series from award-winning producer David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal, Chicago Hope) and practicing neurosurgeon and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, M.D., on whose book the series is based. The medical drama stars Bill Irwin (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation), Alfred Molina (Spider-Man 2, TNT's The Company), Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction), Jamie Bamber (Battlestar Galactica), Jennifer Finnigan (Better with You), Keong Sim (Glee), Sarayu Rao (Lions for Lambs), and Emily Swallow (TNT's Southland).

Molina's stage work has included two major Royal National Theatre productions, Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Iguana (as Shannon) and David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow. In his Broadway debut, Molina performed in Yasmina Reza's Tony Award-winning play 'Art', for which he received a Tony nomination in 1998. In 2004, Molina returned to the stage, starring as Tevye in the Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof. For his performance he once again received a Tony Award nomination, this time for Best Actor in a Musical. Molina received his third Tony Award nomination for Red in 2010, for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play.

Irwin appeared in 1988 on stage with Steve Martin and Robin Williams for a production of Waiting for Godot in the role of Lucky. Lucky's only lines consist of a famous 500-word-long monologue, an ironic element for Irwin since much of his clown-based stage work was silent. He appeared in 2002 with Sally Field in the replacement cast of The Goat or Who is Sylvia?. In 2005, he starred alongside Kathleen Turner as George in a revival of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. He directed the 1998 Roundabout Theatre Company production of A Flea in Her Ear. In 2009 he played Vladimir (Didi) in a Broadway revival of Waiting for Godot, and Mr. McAfee in the Broadway revival of Bye Bye Birdie.

MONDAY MORNINGS (formerly known as Chelsea General) is produced by TNT Originals and David E. Kelley Productions. Kelley and Gupta both serve as executive producers. Kelley penned the pilot episode, which was directed and executive-produced by Bill D'Elia (Boston Legal, The West Wing). TNT has ordered a 10-episode first season of Monday Mornings, which is set to premiere in summer 2013. TNT has teamed up with Turner Broadcasting System International, Inc. to produce this global series. The show, which will air on TNT and Turner networks around the world, will be distributed by TBS International outside of the United States and Canada.

"Monday Mornings is a superb drama brought to life with passion by a gifted ensemble cast and some of the best creative minds working in television today," said Michael Wright, president, head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM). "David, Sanjay and their team have given us an outstanding addition to TNT's stable of high-profile dramas, and we're very proud to have it on the network."

Set at the fictional Chelsea General Hospital in Portland, Ore., Monday Mornings follows the lives of doctors as they push the limits of their abilities and confront their personal and professional failings. The title refers to the hospital's weekly morbidity and mortality conference, when doctors gather with their peers for a confidential review of complications and errors in patient care.

Leading the staff at Chelsea General are Dr. Harding Hooten (Molina), the steely-eyed chief of surgery, and Dr. Jorge "El Gato" Villanueva (Rhames), the hospital's trauma chief. Their cadre of medical talent includes hotshot neurosurgeons Dr. Tyler Wilson (Bamber) and Dr. Tina Ridgeway (Finnigan); the abrasive Dr. Buck Tierney (Irwin); the socially challenged Dr. Sung Park (Sim); the petite-but-formidable Dr. Sydney Napur (Rao); and inquisitive resident Dr. Michelle Robidaux (Swallow).

About TNT

TNT, one of cable's top-rated networks, is television's destination for drama. Seen in 99 million households, the network is home to such high-profile original series as The Closer, starring Emmy(R) winner Kyra Sedgwick; Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander; Falling Skies, starring Noah Wyle; Franklin & Bash, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; and Southland, from Emmy(R)-winning producer John Wells, as well as the upcoming series Major Crimes, Dallas, Perception, Monday Mornings and The Great Escape. TNT also is the cable home to popular dramas like The Mentalist, Bones, Supernatural, Las Vegas and Law & Order, starting this year, Castle; 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. TNT is available in high-definition.

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.

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