The Closer

The Closer is an American crime drama, starring Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Georgia police detective who often closes her cases using sometimes-questionable methods. Deputy Chief Johnson arrived in Los Angeles to lead the Priority Murder Squad, later renamed Priority Homicide Division and currently called Major Crimes Division, a team that originally (seasons 1–4) dealt with high profile murder cases.
The Closer was created by James Duff and the Shephard/Robin Company in association with Warner Bros. Television. On Monday July 11, 2011 the series began its seventh season, scheduled to be its last, despite finishing its sixth season as cable's highest rated drama.
On December 10, 2010, TNT announced that the upcoming seventh season of The Closer, which began production in the spring of 2011, will be the show's last. The channel said that the decision to retire the show was made by Kyra Sedgwick.
On January 30, 2011, the media announced that the final season would add six episodes to the usual fifteen episode order, the final six being the build toward a possible spin-off series. On May 18, 2011, TNT announced that the spin-off, entitled Major Crimes and starring Mary McDonnell as Captain Sharon Raydor, had been picked up for a 10-episode season.

The cast consists largely of an ensemble of detectives who make up the LAPD's fictional Major Crimes Division. It is led by Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. Some observers have noted strong similarities between Johnson and Jane Tennison, the lead character in the British crime drama, Prime Suspect, played by Helen Mirren, with an article in USA Today calling The Closer "an unofficial Americanization" of the British series. In interviews, Sedgwick has acknowledged that the show owes "a debt" to the British crime drama, and that her admiration for that show, and for Mirren, were factors that first interested her in the role.
Other main characters include Johnson's superior officer, Assistant Chief Will Pope (J.K. Simmons), Robbery-Homicide Commander Russell Taylor (Robert Gossett) and her FBI agent husband Fritz Howard (Jon Tenney). The remainder of the cast makes up Brenda's squad each with expertise in a specific area such as crime scene investigation or gang activity. The first departure from the cast occurred in Season Five when actress Gina Ravera (Irene Daniels) left and her character was transferred to another division in the LAPD.
Each episode of The Closer deals with an aspect of the Los Angeles culture as it interfaces with law enforcement in the mega-city. The show deals with complex and subtle issues of public policy ethics, personal integrity, and profound questions of good and evil. The rather large character ensemble explores the human condition, touching on individual faiths, traditional religious influences in the lives and communities of contemporary society, and the breakdown and dysfunction of family systems, work teaming, and government responsibility.