Rizzoli & Isles Premiere Draws Big Audience

The premiere ofRizzoli & Isles attracted 7.6 million viewers, making it the second-biggest cable TV series debut ever.

Monday night's launch of the TNT crime drama finished slightly behind the 2008 unveiling of Raising the Bar— and it managed to keep almost all of the 7.7 million viewers for the Season 6 start of The Closer starring Kyra Sedgwick.

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"The tremendous viewer response to Rizzoli & Isles is very gratifying," said Michael Wright, the head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies.

Rizzoli & Isles — starring Angie Harmon (Law & Order) and Sasha Alexander (NCIS) — is based on Tess Gerritsen's best-selling book series in which Boston Detective Jane Rizzoli teams up with her friend and medical examiner Maura Isles.