By Patrick Kevin Day, Los Angeles Times –
LOS ANGELES — TNT announced the premiere dates of its summer dramas Thursday, with five returning shows and four new shows, including the final six episodes of the Emmy-winning “The Closer” and the much anticipated return of “Dallas.”
The seventh and final season of “The Closer” completes its run with six episodes beginning July 9. The series has had a long farewell — star Kyra Sedgwick’s decision to end the series with season 7 was announced back in December of 2010. The timing of these six episodes is no accident, though; it’s timed to coincide with the premiere of the “Closer” spin-off, “Major Crimes,” starring Mary McDonnell and several other “Closer” alums, which will begin immediately after the final “Closer” episode Aug. 13.
Meanwhile, the “Dallas” return (producers have been careful not to call it a revamp or a reboot) premieres June 13 with a two-hour episode. J.R. Ewing himself will be back, still played by Larry Hagman, as well as Patrick Duffy as Bobby Ewing and Linda Gray as Sue Ellen Ewing.
At the Television Critics Association press tour in January, producers promised the elder cast members weren’t put there “as bait.” Executive producer Cynthia Cidre said, “They are integrated fully into the new cast.”
Other returning series include “Rizzoli & Isles” and “Franklin & Bash” on June 5, executive producer Steven Spielberg’s alien invasion series “Falling Skies” on June 17 and “Leverage” on July 15.
New series include the mystery series “Perception,” starring Eric McCormack as an eccentric neuroscience professor who solves crimes, which begins July 9, and the adventure reality competition series “The Great Escape,” which begins June 24.
