The Closer

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The Closer
Genre Crime Drama
Running time approx. 1 hour
Creator(s) James Duff
Michael M. Robin
Greer Shephard
Starring Kyra Sedgwick
J.K. Simmons
G.W. Bailey
Michael Paul Chan
Raymond Cruz
Anthony John Denison
Corey Reynolds
Robert Gossett
Gina Ravera
Jon Tenney
Country of origin USA
Original channel TNT
Original run June 13, 2005–Current
No. of episodes 28
IMDb profile

The Closer is an American television police drama series. The show, which focuses upon the character of Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson (Kyra Sedgwick), is shown on Turner Network Television. Since its inception, the show has chronicled the cases of Johnson, who comes from Atlanta to Los Angeles to head up a special unit of the LAPD that handles sensitive, high-profile murder cases (Priority Homicide division). Johnson's quirky personality and hard-nosed approach often rub her colleagues the wrong way, but her reputation as one of the world's best interrogators eventually wins over even her toughest critics.

It was created by James Duff and the Shephard/Robin Company in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Rated: TV-14 LV - Viewer Discretion Advised.

Contents

[edit] Characters

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson: Brenda Johnson has been hired by Los Angeles Assistant Police Chief Will Pope, a former boss at the CIA, to head a new unit that handles high-profile murder cases. Pope tells Johnson that her unit is needed because prosecutors have had a dismal record obtaining convictions in these cases.

Brenda is a master interrogator trained by the CIA. She has a great talent for knowing a person's secrets and obtaining confessions with skills that stem from understanding her own imperfections and neuroses. She does whatever it takes to find out the truth, no matter what the personal costs or the legality.

She has a fondness for sugary foods, which she tends to eat both in nervousness and celebration, and Merlot. Her trademark is her "honeyed Georgia cadence." Her main catchphrase, used extensively in television advertisements for the show, is "Thank you (approx. /θeɪŋkjuː/); thank you very much."

"If I liked being called a bitch to my face I'd still be married." -Brenda

Assistant Police Chief Will Pope: Despite bringing Brenda in for the job, he doesn't seem to want to let her actually do the job. Of course, some of it is standard department/city politics, but some of it could be the fact that when they last worked together, despite being married, he and Brenda had an affair.

Sergeant David Gabriel: A bright young police detective who’s looking to make his mark in the department. One of his strengths is that he can defer to someone else when provided with a well-thought-out reason to do so. As a consequence of this, he is one of the first to accept Brenda. Gabriel confessed to Brenda that he and Detective Daniels are dating; Brenda initially did not receive this well, but she seems to have mostly come to terms with it.

Commander Taylor: A hard worker who has risen through the ranks. Of all the others, Taylor's resentment of Brenda is greatest because she was promoted over him to Deputy Chief. To his credit, he may not like Brenda, but is capable of putting personal feelings aside to get the job done (usually).

Detective Lieutenant Provenza: Provenza has no greater love for Brenda than any of the rest of the crew, but he seems to enjoy sitting back and watching what is going on around him with amusement. He also seems to love watching Brenda during an interrogation. Was instrumental in rallying the squad when Brenda was in trouble with the ethics board. Has recently been left in her debt due to an foul-up he had with Lt. Flynn and was forced by Brenda to pay off the squad for helping keep him and Flynn out of the fire.

Lieutenant Michael Tao: The team's technical expert. It has been revealed that Tao attended one year of medical school. Because of this he can provide the team with some medical information. Tao, of Chinese ancestry, also has a Japanese wife, and is functionally literate in Japanese.

Detective Lieutenant Andy Flynn: Originally sent to "assist" Brenda's Team by Commander Taylor. Constantly antagonistic with Brenda at first but after Commander Taylor hung him out to dry during an investigation he transferred to Brenda's team on a permanent basis and gained respect for her. Has recently been forced further into her debt due to an foul-up he had with Lt. Provenza and was forced by Brenda to pay off the squad for helping keep him and Provenza out of the fire.

Detective Julio Sanchez: Expert on Latino gangs and fluent in Spanish. He is married as shown by the wedding band on his finger, but flirts with younger female officers. He has a very short temper and often shouts at suspects when interrogating them. His attitude, whilst crude and chauvinistic, also shows that he cares.

Detective Irene Daniels: While her character is usually not in the foreground of the show or the investigation, it has been seen in recent episodes that Daniels is a very strong woman who can relate to the families of victims. She is currently dating Sergeant Gabriel, much to the dislike of Brenda.

FBI Agent Fritz Howard: An old "friend" of Brenda's from Atlanta , Fritz is Brenda's current FBI contact and current boyfriend. Fritz provides Brenda with access to FBI resources and inside information when local resources are unavailable. Fritz is currently living with Brenda, with limited success.

[edit] Filming Information

[edit] Credits

Regular Cast:

Created by

Writers:

  • James Duff
  • Rick Kellard
  • Nancy Miller
  • Wendy West
  • Hunt Baldwin
  • John Coveny
  • Roger Wolfson


Directors:

Other Directors:

  • Elodie Keene Episode: "The Big Picture"
  • Gloria Muzio Episode "You Are Here"

Executive Producers:

Other Producers:

  • Andrew J. Sacks

[edit] Episode summaries

Main article: List of The Closer episodes

[edit] Trivia and other notes

  • Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti is a consulting producer on The Closer, and Los Angeles Police Department detective Mike Berchem is the show's technical adviser.
  • The show's title is the same as that of a short-lived CBS sitcom in 1998 that starred Tom Selleck as a persuasive ad agency exec.
  • The first airing of the pilot and the second season premiere were commercial-free.
  • Just 2 weeks after its debut, TNT ordered a second season of 15 episodes.

[edit] U.S. Television Ratings

Viewer numbers (based on average total viewers per episode) of The Closer on TNT.

Season Timeslot Season Premiere Season Finale Viewers
Total
(in millions)		 Viewers
Age 18-49
(in millions)		 Viewers
Age 25-54
(in millions)
Date Viewers Total
(in millions)		 Viewers
18-49
(in millions)		 Viewers
25-54
(in millions)		 Date Viewers Total
(in millions)		 Viewers
18-49
(in millions)		 Viewers
25-54
(in millions)
1st Monday 9:00PM June 13, 2005 7.03[1] 2.57[1] 3.00[1] September 5, 2005 6.39[2] 1.93[2] 2.38[2] 5.45[3] 1.94[3] 2.38[3]
2nd June 12, 2006 8.28[4] 2.63[4] 3.57[4] September 4, 2006 7.60[3] 3.45[3] 6.68[3] 2.24[3] 2.83[3]

According to the trade publication Multichannel News, The Closer is "basic cable's most-viewed scripted series ever." [5]

[edit] International Broadcasters

Country Alternate title/Translation TV Network(s) Series Premiere Weekly Schedule
United States United States TNT June 20, 2005 Mondays 9:00pm ET
Canada Canada CH
Australia Australia Channel 9
New Zealand New Zealand TV 2
France France France 3
Germany Germany Vox Wednesday 21:10 CET
Hong Kong Hong Kong 真相追擊 (Pursuit of the truth) ATV World Jan 6, 2006 Fridays 9:00pm HKT
Hungary Hungary A főnök (The boss) RTL Klub Oct 2006 Wednesdays 11:00pm CET
Republic of Ireland Ireland Channel 6 2006-04-30
Netherlands Netherlands NET 5
Sweden Sweden TV3
United Kingdom United Kingdom More4 & Channel 4
Spain Spain Cuatro & Calle 13 March 2, 2006 Thursdays 10:00pm

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c "The Futon Critic: TNT Original Dramatic Series THE CLOSER Lands Record as Ad-Supported Cable's Top Original Scripted Series Telecast Ever (Released by TNT)", June 14, 2005.
  2. ^ a b c "Mediaweek: The Programming Insider", September 8, 2005.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "The Futon Critic: TNT’s THE CLOSER Ends Season with a Bang As 7.6 Million Viewers Watch Record-Breaking Finale (Released by TNT)", September 6, 2006.
  4. ^ a b c "Mediaweek: The Programming Insider", June 14, 2006.
  5. ^ "TNT Series Closes Out the Competition", June 19, 2006.

[edit] External links

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