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The Closer Returns
This coming Monday, we begin the uninterrupted run of our third season of The Closer, a show I created and produce with my partners, Mike Robin, Greer Shepherd, Andy Sacks and — wait for it — the dazzling Kyra Sedgwick. Luckier still, these good people are not just my business associates and creative collaborators, but they are also my friends. And though we did not see each other daily during the off-season, we stayed in touch by appearing at G.W. Bailey’s benefits (with Tony Denison, Gina Ravera, Raymond Cruz and Michael Paul Chan) for the Sunshine Kids; playing in charity poker tournaments for the school where J.K. Simmons (now appearing in Spider-Man 3) sends his son; applauding John Tenney’s powerhouse performance in David Mamet’s Speed the Plow at the Geffen Playhouse this winter (this was really fun); and gathering to watch Kyra claim a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Drama for her work on our show.
During the first week of last December, the writers returned to work. Other departments — production design, locations, casting, costumes — quickly followed. Finally, the cast appeared. During the last week of February, we stood together on a soundstage as our resident genius, Michael Robin, called action for the first shot of Season 3. By the time you watch the premiere, we will know exactly how our last episode ends, and I can promise you one thing: Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson is in for one hell of a summer. She discovers almost an entire family stabbed to death inside their locked house. The trunk of a car shows up in her interview room. An 8-year-old girl disappears on her way home from summer school. Extra bodies roll out of caskets. An elderly man claims to have poisoned more than a half-dozen people from his retirement home.
In other words, it's business as usual inside the LAPD’s Priority Homicide Division as Lts. Provenza, Flynn and Tao, Sgt. Gabriel, Dets. Sanchez and Daniels, Commander Taylor, Assistant Chief Pope, Civilian Surveillance Coordinator Buzz Watson, and Special Agent Fritz Howard are back on the job helping Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson through her professional and personal ordeals. This year Brenda's challenges will include budget cuts, reduced overtime and some unexpected health issues as she attempts to get a strange assortment of murderers to say those three magic words: “I did it.”
I’ll return here, too, later this week. And thanks for asking us back for another season.
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Jun 17, 2007 8:40 PM
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I'm really looking forward to Season 3 of The Closer. I didn't get to participate in the live webcast with TV Guide, but I did see it later. It looks like it's going to be a great season!
Thank you for taking the time to blog for us....
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Jun 17, 2007 11:11 PM
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I really enjoyed the live webcast. I am so excited about the premier! I have been counting the days for about two weeks now. The Closer is definitely one of the best things about summer!
We're less than 24 hours until the season premier...YEAH!!!!
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Jun 17, 2007 11:51 PM
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Great to read your blog - I am a huge fan and have been looking forward to season three for months!
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Jun 18, 2007 4:43 PM
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Hi James,
Thanks for taking the time out of what must be a horrific schedule to blog here. I've seen every episode of The Closer and am looking forward to Season 3.
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Jun 18, 2007 4:58 PM
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What the heck happened to this once eloquent and fresh
new series? It would seem that a different creative
team is involved with this season, and its painfully
obvious. Kyra's character lost her charm, the writing
is mediocre, the timing of the dialogue is poor, the
editing is elementary, the NYPD Blue shaky camera work
was over done to the point of being annoying... and
the director... I have to say this was a bad call on
TNT's executive team. TNT had a gem and now they've
seemed to have goofed it up. The director was way
off... he clearly coached the characters to be more
intense and more dramatic, but the result came across
as angry and up-tight. Brenda went from charming to
hi-strung. Her subtle body language, her quirky
characteristics, her Southern charm... all was
completely lost. Brenda's relationship with Pope went
flat, Taylor and Brenda's conflict for power was
completely ignored, the supporting characters were two
dimensional and not fully developed. I have to say
that the show completely lost its charm...And with
such a great set-up after last season... we all
wondered "does Brenda fall for Pope again? Does Pope
transfer Taylor? Does she risk losing Fritz? What odd
crime will they come across next?" Why would TNT mess
up a chemistry that was one of the best dramas on
cable television?
- Jeff
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Jun 18, 2007 10:37 PM
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The comments from "Jeff" made me wonder if we were watching the same show! Except - not a huge fan of hand held cameras (can you say Blair Witch Project?), so like Jeff I hope that doesn't happen often this year.
And - Brenda & Pope are over. Finis. Kaput. If the idea is to show how two former lovers and current work colleagues find a way to become good friends... maybe I can deal with the toying, hinting there's something more.
But Brenda's not a girl to walk the same path twice. So, like Jeff, I hope that the creative team finds a way to be creative in re-defining Brenda & Pope.
Because, if this is a season about family, Brenda's family is PHS and Fritz. Pope is a third cousin twice removed.
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Jun 20, 2007 12:02 AM
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The pilot was amazing! Poor Brenda was put in a very difficult position to try and keep her squad intact and I loved the way she stood up for Provenza. I am just waiting to see whether she finds out that Gabriel went to Pope with the Anti-Terrorism idea. I suspect she would not be happy.
And I dug the Brenda/Fritz of it all! Fritz moving all his stuff into the house was brilliant. He seems to have realized that traditional tactics will not work with Brenda.
Thank you for blogging. I love reading your thoughts on the episodes and I am very excited to see the stories you'll be telling us this summer!
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Jun 20, 2007 10:49 AM
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I thought this season's premiere was one of the best you've done so far. Loved the solution to get out from under the budget cuts and doing it without losing a character we enjoy seeing. Loved how Fritz 'handled' Brenda about making some necessary changes in their lives.
This series is a gem. I don't find all that many actresses playing law enforcement people-in-charge realistically. But Kyra is superb at it. She is up there at the top of my list with S. Epatha Merkerson, whom I've found believable since the first day of Law and Order.
Crystal
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Jun 20, 2007 8:58 PM
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Speaking of S. Epatha Merkerson - when will she debut on The Closer???
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Jun 20, 2007 9:25 PM
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I'm delighted you've continued your blog this season. I found your insights about the process of creating and producing The Closer added a lot to my enjoyment of the show during Season Two, particularly since I live and work in LA. This is a special show that is the viewing highlight of my summer. Keep the how's and why's coming!
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Jun 25, 2007 8:11 AM
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