Kyra Sedgwick Stars in TNT's 'The Closer'

Kyra Sedgwick started out in the shadows of greater actors and actresses. Growing up, Sedgwick was simply known as the cousin of Edie Sedgwick, the former Andy Warhol beauty. After stepping out of that shadow, she landed herself with the title of Mrs. Kevin Bacon, after marrying the star in 1988. Now, TNT's critically acclaimed series, The Closer, has helped to distinguish her in her own right.

Sedgwick plays the role of Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, an Atlanta, Georgia native that transfers to L.A., and joins a specialized unit which handles high-profile murder cases. During its first season, The Closer landed Sedgwick a Screen Actor's Guild Award nomination, as well as a Golden Globe nomination. Now, the show has come back for its second season. About her character, USA Today quoted Sedgwick, saying " I love that she's very much a woman and she doesn't apologize for her power. She wears skirts, she doesn't wear pants. She's very female and secure enough that she doesn't have to act like a man."

The St. Petersburg Times talked to Kyra Sedgwick about the success of her show. "The TV landscape has definitely changed. Even young people who have thriving movie careers are going, 'You know what? I'm going to do TV,' which I find so amazing."

Reuters reports that tomorrow's premiere, one day before the premiere of Kyra Sedgwick's new movie, Loverboy, which also happens to be husband Kevin Bacon's directing debut, is full of promise, as are the following episodes. "The series opener has Brenda trying to solve a case in which, at first glance, it appears a cop and a drug dealer fatally shot each other. Even stronger is the second episode, when Brenda looks into the sudden deadly heart attack of a juror in the trial of a crime boss."

Followng The Closer, TNT is going to be running Saved, a series that focuses on the lives of young EMT workers and their personal and professional problems. Tom Everett Scott, star of Saved, is experiencing his first time on cable network, and all the foul language and nudity that accompanies it. He was quoted by the The St. Petersburg Times as saying cable networks "keep pushing the envelope. I'm not just doing it for the nudity and the S-bombs, but I think we can start growing up a little bit."

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer took a glance at the show before its debut. "'Saved' makes careening around Portland in an ambulance look like some kind of jolt. In the first hour, Wyatt and his partner, John (Omari Hardwick), patch up a variety of patients, all of whom enter their ambulance with lives flashing before their eyes, and ours. Each stylized slide show starts in happier days, moving frame by frame through to what brings each person to the gurney. It's a nice touch that has been done before, like everything else in this show."

Regardless of the show following The Closer, Kyra Sedgwick and her show are likely to make a very strong return to cable TV to pick up where they left off last season. Look for Kyra and The Closer on TNT Monday at 9pm, with Saved following the show up at 10pm.

[Additional Sources: USA Today, St. Petersburg Times, Reuters, Seattle Post Intelligencer]