TNT to Follow Up Summer Debuts with Romano's Men, Possible E.T. Invasion from Spielberg and More
Steven Spielberg, Ray Romano and Charles S. Dutton
Leverage and Raising the Bar return to TNT this summer for their sophomore seasons, while three new shows make their debut.
The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick, and Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter, are also among the cabler's returning original series.
As for new fare, TNT is rolling out this summer HawthoRNe, a medical drama fronted by Jada Pinkett Smith; Dark Blue, a police drama led by Dylan McDermott (The Practice); and Wedding Day, a reality series from Mark Burnett.
The cabler's development slate for the 2009-10 season and beyond, meawhile, is both out-of-this-world and down-to-earth.
The dramedy Men of a Certain Age — starring Ray Romano (also a creator on the series), Andre Braugher and Scott Bakula — has been greenlit and tabbed for a December premiere.
Other projects in development include a sci-fi drama from Steven Spielberg and Dreamworks Television. The untitled series will revolve around a group of freedom fighters who emerge six months after a worldwide alien invasion.
Also, Steven Bochco, who already gave TNT Raising the Bar, is developing Class Action, a legal drama about a down-on-his-luck attorney.
Other prospective series in the pipeline:
* Zapata, Texas, produced by Sedgwick and husband Kevin Bacon, revolves around a newly elected, small-town sheriff
* MacAlister, about a novelist-turned-professor working at an all-boys prep school
* Pastor Jazz, starring Charles S. Dutton as a minister
* Proof, from Star Trek: Voyager scribes Kenneth Biller and Mike Sussman, follows an eccentric neuroscientist who helps the government solve unusual mysteries
* An untitled family drama from Matt Williams (Home Improvement, Roseanne)
* From Daniel Pyne (The Manchurian Candidate), an untitled 1954-set drama about a Los Angeles private detective
* A pair of unscripted series — one about the doctors and patients at The Mayo Clinic, and one in which deserving people's dream trips are fulfilled.
