TVSquad

Monday night, TNT premiered The Closer, starring Kyra Sedgwick. Sedgwick plays Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson, who is brought into the LAPD from Atlanta, surpassing the rank of all the existing homicide officers to take over a new group on the force, the Priority Murder Squad. When I first caught advertisements for this show, I was thinking "oh boy, another cop show starring someone relatively famous, what will they ever think of next." While I won't say I was wrong about that first judgement, I can definitely see why you would watch this show again.

I was a little disappointed that the "trick" behind the first case, as it's either clear that I watch too much crime-TV or it was just plain as day who the criminal was. The fact that OJ was mentioned only six minutes into the show during a murder-related discussion was kind of funny, and the random mix of cop characters who will be working for Brenda Johnson appear to be somewhat entertaining, especially Detective Lt. Provenza, played by G.W. Bailey. Provenza gets called out for calling women "bitches," and notes that he is "proud of it" when he's called an "asshole." So we know who the comic relief will come from every time we tune in.

Sedgwick's character has personal connections to a few people who are introduced to us, including the police chief Will Pope (J.K. Simmons, you might remember him as Jameson from the Spider-Man flicks), whom she was either romantically involved with or had just worked with in a previous life. And, her "friend" from the FBI who happens to show up at her hotel in Los Angeles with part of the evidence needed to solve the case - but you don't learn everything that might have gone on in their history, and that's about the only hook you'll find with regard to the future. Otherwise, it's a "show up when the body hits the floor and we'll figure it out in 45 minutes or less." Oh, and it's cable so we have gratuitous nipples-through-the-shirt shots and a fascination with eating sweets.

Is it enough to keep us enthralled for the next 13 weeks? Probably - Monday nights in the summertime are a decent time to be on television and expect people to be sitting on the couch - but it wasn't anything to write home about. Set the DVR and go with it.