TNT’s ‘Major Crimes’ now out of ‘The Closer’ shadow

Sedgwick’s character, Brenda Leigh Johnson, was considered the sun in which the other actors circled, the deputy chief with the honey-dripping Southern accent and chocolate fetish who found innumerable ways to get the guilty to confess.

But creator James Duff knew the show was more than Brenda, who was an amalgam of many of his family members and himself. Minus Sedgwick, Duff kept most of the remaining cast and promoted Mary McDonnell’s Capt. Sharon Raydor to run the division. He renamed the show “Major Crimes.”

Much to TNT’s relief, the show didn’t fall apart without Brenda. In fact, it retained a bulk of “The Closer” fan base (6.8 million viewers a week) and remains one of the network’s most stable, reliable performers, even as Time Warner brought in new management and rejiggered its lineup to favor shows with more action and more complexity.

“I hardly ever get calls from (TNT management) while shooting,” Duff said. “We generate no drama. Our drama is on screen.”

Duff said he has been able to make “Major Crimes” familiar enough to acolytes of “The Closer” while shifting the focus just enough to give it a distinctive hue. The show is more an ensemble unit, with former “Closer” regulars getting more balanced airtime.

“It’s a whole different energy,” compared to “The Closer,” said Tony Denison, who plays the popular Lt. Andy Flynn. “There’s a whole different vibration between the characters.”

To give Raydor more depth, Duff had her take care of a troubled teen, Rusty (Graham Patrick Martin), who was a witness in a key crime case. Their often-combative relationship deepened over time. By season three, Raydor adopted him.

Duff said as the fourth season returns, Raydor “has a hard time letting go of Rusty,” who is 19 years old and a freshman in college. In the fourth-season debut Monday night, Rusty gets entangled in a major crimes case as a wannabe college journalist.

In other teasers, Duff said Rusty may get a boyfriend. Flynn gets embroiled in what appears to be a romance with his boss Raydor, a relationship hinted at in season three. And Detective Julio Sanchez (Raymond Cruz) returns from an extended leave for anger management after he beat up a serial killer last season.

Duff said he hopes “Major Crimes” has a long life ahead of it, but he’s well aware TNT and other cable networks are now facing unprecedented challenges from streaming services like Netflix and Hulu. “The cable bundle seems to be unraveling,” he said. “I think TNT is trying to diversify and be younger.”