TNT's Chart-Topping, Record-Breaking Original Series THE CLOSER Slated To Return for Fourth Dramatic Season

Golden Globe Winner and Two-Time Emmy Nominee Kyra Sedgwick To Return in Ultra-Popular, Critically Acclaimed Detective Drama

THE CLOSER Ranks as Ad-Supported Cable's #1 Series of All Time And Scores as Ad-Supported Cable's Most DVR-ed Drama

Series Produced by The Shephard/Robin Company (Nip/Tuck) in Association with Warner Bros. Television To Launch Fourth Season in Summer 2008, Exclusively on TNT

There won't be any sleep for the guilty in 2008. Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson will remain on the case as TNT's hit series THE CLOSER, ad-supported cable's #1 series of all time, has been renewed for a fourth season, according to an announcement today by Michael Wright, senior vice president in charge of the Content Creation Group for TNT, TBS and TCM. The critically acclaimed crime drama stars Golden Globe winner and two-time Emmy nominee Kyra Sedgwick as an LAPD investigator and interrogator with a remarkable talent for trapping criminals in their lies. The show's record-breaking third season is currently airing on TNT Mondays at 9 p.m. (ET/PT) and is averaging more than 7.8 million viewers, with time-shifted viewing (e.g. DVR) delivering more than 1.2 million of those viewers and making the show ad-supported cable's most DVR-ed drama among viewers, households and key adult demos. TNT has ordered 15 episodes for the fourth season, set to launch next summer.

"With each season, THE CLOSER keeps getting better while its audience keeps getting bigger," said Wright. "From its consistently excellent execution to its unprecedented popularity, including among young adults who are recording it in large numbers, it is constantly proving itself to be one of television's biggest success stories. We are absolutely thrilled to be welcoming back Kyra and the rest of the extraordinary cast, along with the immensely talented production team."

Sedgwick took home the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Series this year for her performance as the feminine yet forceful, offbeat yet indomitable CIA-trained Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a former Atlanta detective brought to Los Angeles to head a special LAPD unit charged with cracking sensitive, high-profile murder cases. She is an expert at digging into a person's secrets and obtaining confessions, despite constantly struggling with her own imperfections and neuroses. In addition to Sedgwick, THE CLOSER's Screen Actors Guild Award-nominated ensemble cast will be back for the fourth season, including Jon Tenney, J.K. Simmons, Corey Reynolds, Robert Gossett, G.W. Bailey, Tony Denison, Raymond Cruz, Michael Paul Chan and Gina Ravera.

THE CLOSER ranks as ad-supported cable's #1 series of all time in delivery of viewers and households, according to data from Nielsen Media Research. The June 18 premiere of the third season topped the second-season premiere as ad-supported cable's #1 series telecast of all time among households and viewers. To date this season, THE CLOSER is averaging 2,400,000 adults 18-49 (+13% vs. same number of episodes last season); 3,158,000 adults 25-54 (+15%); 7,747,000 viewers (+19%); and 5,622,000 households (+14%). The crime drama is averaging a 6.0 coverage household rating, with a 5.0 national rating.

THE CLOSER scores extremely well among viewers who record episodes using DVRs or other recording devices to watch later. Time-shifted viewing (Same Day + 7 Day) for the season to date has raised the show's average delivery an extra 582,000 adults 18-49; 679,000 adults 25-54; 1,259,000 viewers; and 812,000 households when compared to live viewing. Those numbers make THE CLOSER ad-supported cable's most DVR-ed drama series.

THE CLOSER comes to TNT from The Shephard/Robin Company in association with Warner Bros. Television and is executive-produced by Greer Shephard (Nip/Tuck, The D.A.), Michael M. Robin (Nip/Tuck, The D.A., NYPD Blue) and James Duff (The D.A., The Agency) and produced by Andrew J. Sacks (The D.A, Adaptation, Two Soldiers) with Kyra Sedgwick also serving as producer. Gil Garcetti, Los Angeles district attorney from 1992 to 2000, is a consulting producer.

Turner Network Television (TNT), television's destination for drama and one of cable's top-rated networks, offers original movies and series, including the acclaimed detective drama The Closer, starring Golden Globe winner and Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Awards nominee Kyra Sedgwick; Saving Grace, a provocative new drama starring Oscar winner Holly Hunter; Heartland, a powerful medical drama starring Treat Williams and Kari Matchett; and the three-week television event The Company, starring Chris O'Donnell, Michael Keaton and Alfred Molina. TNT is also home to powerful one-hour dramas, such as Law & Order, Without a Trace, Cold Case, ER, Charmed and Judging Amy; broadcast premiere movies; compelling prime-time specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. TNT is also available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a TimeWarner company, is a major producer of news and entertainment product around the world and a leading provider of programming for the television industry.