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TNT is heading back to trial with Murder in the First. The summer drama has been renewed for an additional 10-episode season.
Ordering more of the Steven Bochco-produced serial is another vote of confidence in what proved to be a pretty solid summer for the cable network. Michael Bay‘s Last Ship received an early greenlight for a sophomore run — and though the word is still out on Howard Gordon-produced Legends, it only debuted recently and enjoyed strong premiere ratings.
Murder in the First wasn’t a lock for a renewal — hence the delay; it last aired over a month ago — but it proved a very steady ratings performer for the cable network. The first season averaged 4.7 million viewers in live-plus-7 ratings — 1.3 million of them adults 25-54.
Combining classic TNT procedural elements with more serialized storytelling (in line with the network’s new programming push), Murder in the First stars Taye Diggs and Kathleen Robertson as San Francisco detectives. The first season having covered one murder, investigation and trial, the sophomore run will presumably pick up with a new mystery.
Before announcing his departure from Turner last week, exiting programming president Michael Wright told The Hollywood Reporter that series like Murder in the First and Last Ship were part of a shift planned at TNT. “We’re in the beginning stage of a very significant pivot away from a programming approach that worked really well for a long time,” he said. “We want to go after that viewer that loves great summer movies.”
TNT’s genre push may soon go into the superhero arena. Just Thursday, DC Comics superhero drama Titans neared a pilot order.
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