TNT's Hit Series HAWTHORNE, Starring Jada Pinkett Smith, Set to Return for Second Season

Character-Driven Medical Drama Averaging 3.8 Million Viewers for First Season

TNT has picked up a second season of its hit medical drama HAWTHORNE, starring and executive-produced by Jada Pinkett Smith (The Women, The Matrix trilogy) and created by Emmy� winner John Masius (St. Elsewhere, Providence, Dead Like Me). The network has ordered an additional 10 episodes of the character-driven drama, which airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. (ET/PT). For its first season, HAWTHORNE is averaging 3.8 million viewers and ranks as ad-supported cable's #1 entertainment program on Tuesdays among adults 25-54 and women 25-54. The second season is slated to air in 2010.

HAWTHORNE co-stars Michael Vartan (Alias), Suleka Mathew (Men in Trees), David Julian Hirsh (Lovebites), Christina Moore (Hyperion Bay) and Hannah Hodson (TNT's The Ron Clark Story). The series is produced for TNT by Sony Pictures Television in association with Pinkett Smith's 100% Womon Productions, John Masius Productions, and Jamie Tarses' FanFare Productions. Pinkett Smith, Masius, Glen Mazzara (The Shield, Crash, Life) and Jamie Tarses (My Boys) serve as executive producers.

"HAWTHORNE has been a great addition to TNT's lineup of original series, and Jada Pinkett Smith's performance has been a tremendous draw with viewers," said Michael Wright, executive vice president, head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM). "There are powerful episodes remaining, and we're looking forward to what is certain to be an extraordinary second season."

HAWTHORNE, which premiered Tuesday, June 16, with 4.4 million viewers (Live + 7), is one of six high-profile original dramas populating TNT's Monday-Wednesday lineup this summer. The six series, which include The Closer, Raising the Bar, Saving Grace, Leverage and Dark Blue, are the fulfillment of an aggressive TNT strategy to build a slate of quality original programming in primetime.

HAWTHORNE is scoring tremendous growth over programming in the same Tuesday 9 p.m. timeslot last year, with adults 25-54 up 90%, viewers up 69% and households up 63%. In addition to its success as part of TNT's Tuesday night lineup, the show performs well among DVR users, averaging a 38% lift when comparing Live to Live + 7 delivery of adults 25-54.

Pinkett Smith plays Christina Hawthorne, a compassionate and headstrong Chief Nursing Officer heading up a group of dedicated nurses at Richmond Trinity Hospital who spend long days and nights on the hospital's front lines. Hawthorne is the kind of nurse who fights for her patients and doesn't let them slip through the cracks. When necessary, she takes on doctors and administrators who are overworked, distracted or just unable to see the human being behind the hospital chart.

But the long days at the hospital and Christina's intense focus on helping others take a toll on her personal life. She is still coming to terms with losing her husband, who died a year ago after a battle with cancer, leaving her to raise their smart, rebellious teen-age daughter on her own. Constantly trying to strike a balance between her career and her equally important role as a parent, Christina finds little time to take care of the one person who always seems to fall through the cracks � herself.

Vartan plays Dr. Tom Wakefield, the oncologist who treated Christina's husband and serves as Chief of Surgery for the hospital. The cast also includes Mathew as Bobbie Jackson, the head ER nurse and Christina's best friend; Hirsch as Ray Stein, a nurse struggling with being accepted in a female-dominated profession; Moore as Candy Sullivan, whose stunning beauty is matched by a unique sense of duty; and Hodson as Camille, Hawthorne's daughter. In addition, special guest star Joanna Cassidy (Six Feet Under) portrays Amanda Hawthorne, Christina's mother-in-law, who also happens to be a member of the hospital board.

TNT, one of cable's top-rated networks, is television's destination for drama and home to such original series as the acclaimed and highly popular detective drama The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick; Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter; Raising the Bar, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Gloria Reuben and Jane Kaczmarek; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; HawthoRNe, with Jada Pinkett Smith; and Dark Blue, starring Dylan McDermott. TNT also presents such powerful dramas as Bones, CSI: NY, Cold Case, Law & Order, Without a Trace, ER and Charmed; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards�; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR and the NBA. TNT is available in high-definition.

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