Kyra Sedgwick says: “The Closer” closes out in 2011
If TNT had its druthers, Brenda Leigh Johnson will be shaking down criminals with that odd Southern drawl for another decade or two.
But the actress Kyra Sedgwick is shutting down the candy factory in 2011 after seven seasons.
She didn’t cite a reason in a press release. This means 15 more episodes next year, not counting the current five-episode winter run.
The drama was the breakthrough original hit for TNT as it built up its “We Know Drama” imaging.
It typically draws six to seven million viewers a week, sometimes hitting eight. (Counting DVR use, it would exceed eight.) Most of its other dramas (”Hawthorne,” “Leverage,” “Memphis Beat”) are lucky to bring in three to four million. The only original drama so far to approach “The Closer” has been “Rizzoli & Isles,” which debuted last summer and one week even beat “The Closer,” a first.
Sedgwick, after four years of losing, won her first Emmy for best female actress in a drama this past September.
“Kyra blazed a new trail in the television landscape with her performance as Brenda Leigh Johnson,” said Michael Wright, executive vice president and head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM), in a press release. “Like her many fans, we will miss her terribly, and we will be forever grateful for the time we got to spend with her.”
Join my Facebook fan page and Twitter.
By Rodney Ho, rho@ajc.com, AJCRadioTV blog
accessAtlanta Partner Sites
Sections
Advertise on accessAtlanta.com »
Reach the audience you want by advertising on accessAtlanta.com
Join the Access Atlanta Network »
Advertisers and Publishers, expand your reach by joining the Access Atlanta Network.
Tell us what you think about the site
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement | About our ads
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
33 comments Add your comment
Mitch Leff
December 10th, 2010
3:10 pm
Why is the actress shutting down the series?
Rodney Ho
December 10th, 2010
3:14 pm
The press release did not say why. I wonder if she has the itch to focus on films again?
Ted Underhill
December 10th, 2010
3:27 pm
Does that mean the current run of 5 or 6 episodes that began Monday will be the end of the series or does it mean that run plus one more season in 2011?
Rodney Ho
December 10th, 2010
3:53 pm
It means 15 new episodes for 2011 into 2012 for the next season. We are currently in season 6.
Sam
December 10th, 2010
4:02 pm
I’ll be really sad to see this show go. Great plots, great acting, and a truly “ensemble” cast. Love them all.
JoeV
December 10th, 2010
5:09 pm
She probably decided she couldn’t go on making that awful, fake southern accent anymore. God awful to think that passes as a southern accent. Isn’t her character supposed to be from Atlanta and not Tifton?
pauld
December 10th, 2010
5:11 pm
watched it a couple times– good show
i enjoyed Saving Grace more though– and hate that is no more
JJ
December 10th, 2010
5:13 pm
I guess I will give up tv entirely next year.. Nothing left on but stupid reality shows
Mr. Ed
December 10th, 2010
5:17 pm
No. I refuse to accept this news.
Hissy fit x 2. I enjoyed Sedgwick so much as her character Brenda. Especially the treadmark “Thank You”.
Now the only show worth watching is “Breaking Bad”.
Mr. Ed
December 10th, 2010
5:18 pm
trademark…my bad…
long gone
December 10th, 2010
5:18 pm
If the Walking Dead gets 6 million viewers and that is a record, and The Closer typically draws six to seven million viewers a week why is that not a record?
Ted Underhill
December 10th, 2010
5:55 pm
Gotcha. Thanks for clarifying, Rodney!
C from Marietta
December 10th, 2010
5:59 pm
Hey long gone. The record for Walking Dead is for a show shot in Atlanta.
Sand Kasprzyk
December 10th, 2010
6:06 pm
Omg!! I can not think of Monday nights without Brenda and the Crew. It is a great show and there should more of them not less. Please Kyra re-consider.
chkrdr
December 10th, 2010
6:13 pm
love the show…but that is a bad southern drawl..
Hindu Elvis Pimp
December 10th, 2010
6:21 pm
People watch this show?
Barbara
December 10th, 2010
6:58 pm
Damn, I love that show! The cast is so good together & these days it’s hard to find an ensemble cast that clicks that well. Maybe they will be smart enough to find a way to keep her. Good thing the DVD’s are around.
catlady
December 10th, 2010
7:09 pm
I have enjoyed the show and ensemble cast a great deal. Best to go out on top, I guess.
It would have been nice if they had done more research on the accent, however. It hurts! I keep feeling surprised that she wears shoes in each episode!
radioMan
December 10th, 2010
7:44 pm
yes catlady, i feel the same way – her fake southern accent is one reason i could not watch that show
Mary
December 10th, 2010
7:52 pm
She is terrific in “The Closer.” Wish she would stay. Hope she does another series; she does a fantastic acting job.
Old Dawg
December 10th, 2010
8:17 pm
This is sad news. The Closer is one of the few shows I watch on a regular basis. But it will be around forever in syndication, so I’ll continue to enjoy the show.
Blessed&HighlyFavored
December 10th, 2010
8:34 pm
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I LOVE THIS SHOW!
WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?
With all the other CRAP on tv these days (Real Housewives), I am going to truly miss this show!!
the Cobb
December 10th, 2010
8:53 pm
Damn show was stupid from the start. It was based on the perp not having enough sense to ask for a lawyer. Everyone knows that once you request a lawyer all conversation cease. Even if it does not whatever the perp says from that point on is useless to the prosecutor. I love Law and Order, it made sense, this show did not.
Marie
December 10th, 2010
9:24 pm
First Monk and now this. This is really not good news as The Closer is probably the best drama on TV today. And I’m sorry but Kyra’s Southern Accent is really not bad. Didn’t she use the same accent in Forrest Gump or some other down south movie she was in?
@ the Cobb there are plenty of perps who will talk to the police without a lawyer being present. If you watch shows like 48Hours, Dateline, Snapped, etc., there are plenty of suspects who will talk for hours without the benefit of a lawyer — so the show’s concept is not stupid.
Nickie
December 10th, 2010
9:59 pm
All the good shows come to an end way to early for me. First “Undercovers,” then I hear that “Medium” is being canceled after next month, and now “The Closer?” I loved Kyra Sedgwick in her inspiring role and I do not understand why all of the other crappy shows get to stay on and the really great ones only get a few years or too few episodes, if that. Makes no sense. There are too many great actors and they have to suffer because other dumb shows get more viewers. I still somehow hope that NBC brings back “Undercovers?” What went wrong??????
CJ
December 10th, 2010
10:27 pm
Sad! We love The Closer!
Winnie
December 11th, 2010
6:06 am
I love the show and will miss it. My sister got me hooked on it. I always loved that when other shows were in re-runs, The Closer had new episodes.
TheDuchess
December 11th, 2010
7:58 am
Why, why, why…LOL! Please don’t go…*sigh*
sonja
December 12th, 2010
5:33 am
I just started watching this show! I love this show, and I am sad that is coming to an end. She is a great actress, and the cast is fabulous! I’ll be watching this show in syndication. Her accent is not bad at all. I know people who sound just like her, lol! Thank you, thank you so much!
Andy
December 12th, 2010
12:46 pm
I love this show despite the over-exaggerated Southern accent. They need to give Provenza & Flynn their own show of them trying to be police officers and dating girls. Cops of a Certain Age, it could work!
Jane Andria
December 13th, 2010
8:38 am
NO!!! Please reconsider. We love this show…
Every character played is done well. Why ??? Television sucks and we finally get something great it gets shut down. STOP THE PRESSES. RECONSIDER. We need Brenda Lee and her guys!!!
1911A1
December 13th, 2010
9:10 am
She will always win at “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.”
As for the accent, GW Bailey’s was slightly more authentic when he was on “M*A*S*H”.
rod
December 13th, 2010
4:31 pm
first 24 and now Brenda Lee. Next it will be House and I will die