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Mary McDonnell: ‘Major Crimes’ Has Kicks for ‘Closer’ Fans

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“It’s thrilling, what starts to happen over the course of the 10 episodes,” declared Mary, whose straight arrow police Captain, Sharon Raydor, is now in charge of the LAPD Major Crimes unit/family-of-sorts that she used to dislike.  “It will be so delightful for fans of ‘The Closer,’ what we find out about these beloved characters they have spent seven years with, because of the way she runs the office, the way she is a boss, the way that they have to start to work together.”

As for Captain Raydor, “All the way through the 10 episodes, this woman has surprised me, revealed things to me and made me chuckle,”  Mary said.

Read the entire article here.

Mary McDonnell Takes the Lead in Major Crimes

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From Indiewire.com:

While we were all obsessively watching the Olympics, one thing happened in TV land that didn’t get much note.  A 60 year old woman took over as the lead on a TV show.  Now techincally Major Crimes is a new show, but anyone who watched The Closerknows it’s basically the same show with a new name.

Mary McDonnell who played President Laura Roslin on Battlestar Galactica took over the squad as Kyra Sedgwick left her show after 8 seasons.  The two female characters are completely different types.  Sedgwick’s Brenda Leigh Johnson was nice and southern, as she got those confessions, and McDonnell’s Sharon Raydor is a whole different brand of cop.  She made her mark in internal affairs and that is leading to lots of trouble with the squad.  It’s almost like they are replaying the beginning of The Closer where all the male cops had to hate their new leader and break her down until they were convinced she was competent to have the job.  Women have to earn that respect whereas when a guy gets that job they are assumed to be qualified.

Read the whole article here.

Graham Patrick Martin On His Role in Major Crimes

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Starry Constellation Magazine Interviewed Graham Patrick Martin on his role on The Closer and how he fits into Major Crimes.

My character (is) Rusty Beck, and I am introduced in the finale of “The Closer.” The Major Crimes Division needs my help with a case that they are working on. I use that leverage to make a deal with the Major Crimes Division saying, “I’ll give you the help that you need if you use your resources to find my mother, who has abandoned me.” Rusty is a homeless teen who has been abandoned by his mother seven months prior and has been living on the streets. So, he takes this opportunity as his one shot to find his mother who has left him. Ultimately, “The Closer” ends and Rusty’s end of the deal is upheld. That’s where I come in on “Major Crimes.” Rusty comes back and says, “You guys have to uphold your end of the deal and find my mom.”

Whole interview here.

‘Major Crimes’: Mary McDonnell goes from outsider to insider on TNT’s ‘Closer’ spinoff

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A wonderful new interview with Mary McDonnell from Zap2it.com with good questions and some wonderful insights into Sharon as an evolving character.

“As she becomes an insider as opposed to an outsider, that mistrust doesn’t just dissipate — because that means we would have to have a completely different person there, and there wouldn’t have been that history. So what’s interesting about it for me — one of the many things that’s interesting — [is] working with that mistrust from the inside, and seeing where that can take us and what we have to do. I feel like it’s very reflective of what a lot of people go through” when they either change jobs or get new bosses.

There are always these adjustments that are difficult to make, so I sort of love that we see this happening inside this Major Crimes division.”

Read the whole thing here.

Watch Major Crimes

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Can’t get enough Major Crimes? We don’t blame you! Here are some ways for you to get your fix!

Watch LIVE, Mondays at 9/8c on TNT

Watch STREAMING via TNT:

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 BUY the episodes via iTunes:

 

 

 

 

 BUY the episodes via Amazon.com:

 

Case Closed? That Squad Looks Familiar

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A great article about The Closer and Major Crimes in the New York Times

When “The Closer” fans tune in to “Major Crimes” on Aug. 13, familiar faces typically relegated to reactive status when Brenda was in the room will be taking charge and getting close-ups. In fact the only thing that might confuse viewers is TNT’s label of “Major Crimes” as a spinoff. In the land of narrative television a successor to an original show typically involves a move, like to Seattle (“Frasier”) from the bar stools of Boston (“Cheers”).

“It’s not really what we consider a spinoff historically,” said G. W. Bailey, who over the years has turned his fuming and unfiltered Lieutenant Provenza into a fan favorite. “It’s a new kind of hybrid. I’m at the same desk. I park in the same spot. I haven’t moved an inch.”

Call the show what you will, TNT’s job is to let viewers know that “Major Crimes” will offer everything its predecessor did in terms of a murder mystery solved and a workplace group examined, just without the workaholic Brenda leading the charge. To help ease the transition, TNT is unveiling “Major Crimes” at 10 p.m., right after the series finale of “The Closer.” This strategy provides instant gratification for the curious. A “Closer” fan hoping to reflect on Brenda’s dramatic exit will barely have time to tweet “@Kyrasedgwick thx 4 FUN TIMES” before heading straight into the new show.

Whole article here

Goodbye Kyra, Hello Mary!

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In a new interview in Dish Mag, creator James Duff talks about bringing The Closer to and end, and creating Major Crimes to continue its legacy.

Major Crimes Creator James Duff described how that show picks up where The Closer leaves off.  “What I mean by that,” he said, “is The Closer concentrated almost exclusively on getting confessions, while the major crimes team is expected to deliver convictions.  And with the help of a few intriguing new characters, such as former Two and a Half Men’s Graham Patrick Martin as homeless teen Rusty, and a new undercover detective, a few DAs, and members of the FBI task forces, Major Crimes proves that in life, everything, even murder, could be a negotiation.”

Whole article here.

Article: We Shine the Spotlight on Mary McDonnell, Who Dishes on THE CLOSER Coming to an End and What Fans Can Expect From Her MAJOR CRIMES Spin-Off

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In a new interview with thetvaddict.com, Mary McDonnell discusses the end of The Closer, and how taking over Major Crimes is going to change Sharon Raydor.

Can you talk about how the character Captain Sharon Raydor is going to be evolving and has changed since she first appeared on THE CLOSER?
MARY: Well I think evolving is the key. You know what I’m saying in that what we’re doing is we’re seeing a woman who was in a very specific professional role; through a very specific lens and as a character she had a very limited functionality within the ensemble of THE CLOSER. And she was clearly brought in to be the antagonist. And as we evolve into MAJOR CRIMES this character is evolved into — she professionally changes, she shifts. And we begin to view her through a different job, a different set of circumstances, and different things are asked of her. And one of the beautiful things about the writing is that it very organically allows her to grow in front of us because we’re watching her in a different situation from a different point of view.

Whole interview here