TNT's New Drama PERCEPTION Launches with 5.6 Million Viewers; THE CLOSER Returns with 6.1 Million

TNT's blockbuster series The Closer returned for the first of six final episodes last night, drawing 6.1 million viewers, this summer's largest Live + Same Day audience for a returning cable drama. The Closer was followed by the series premiere of TNT's new drama Perception, which drew 5.6 million viewers and now ranks behind TNT's Dallas on the list of cable's top series launches for the year-to-date.

Among key demos, The Closer averaged 1.2 million adults 18-49 and 1.7 million adults 25-54 in Live + Same Day. The premiere of Perception brought in 1.1 million adults 18-49 and ranks behind Dallas as cable's #2 drama series launch among adults 25-54 (1.5 million).

About TNT's The Closer: 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 face their final cases together as the record-breaking blockbuster series starring Emmy(R) winner Kyra Sedgwick comes to an end. Sedgwick is 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 stars Captain Sharon Raydor, the role she will continue TNT's new series Major Crimes, which is slated to premiere right after The Closer's Aug. 13 series finale.

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.

About TNT's Perception: It's mind-over-murder as Emmy(R) and Screen Actors Guild Award(R) winner Eric McCormack stars in this all-new drama series about an eccentric neuroscience professor with paranoid schizophrenia who is recruited by the FBI to help solve complex cases. McCormack plays Dr. Daniel Pierce, with Rachael Leigh Cook as FBI agent Kate Moretti, Pierce's former student who asks him to consult on certain cases; ArJay Smith as Max Lewicki, who serves as Pierce's teaching assistant; Kelly Rowan as Natalie Vincent, Daniel's best friend and every bit his intellectual equal. In addition, award-winning actor LeVar Burton plays Paul Haley, a dean at the university and Pierce's friend.

Perception, which comes to TNT from ABC Studios, was created by executive producer Ken Biller (Star Trek: Voyager, Smallville) and co-executive producer Mike Sussman (Star Trek: Enterprise), with McCormack serving as producer.

About TNT: 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 The Closer, Rizzoli & Isles, Falling Skies, Dallas, Perception, Franklin & Bash, Leverage, Southland and the upcoming series Major Crimes and 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 media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

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