‘Closer’ premiere sets another record

The second-season premiere of “The Closer” topped last year’s record-setting performance by setting another record.

The TNT series returned to an audience of close to 8.3 million viewers on Monday. That’s the biggest audience of all time for a scripted series on ad-supported cable (i.e., not a pay channel like HBO or Showtime) – although there were no ads during the show. The premiere ran commercial-free.

That huge audience for “The Closer” also helped TNT’s new series, “Saved,” to a strong debut. About 5.1 million people watched the premiere of the series about a paramedic with a gambling problem, making it the top new scripted series on basic cable thus far this year.

“The Closer,” which stars Golden Globe nominee Kyra Sedgwick as L.A. Deputy Police Chief Brenda Johnson, was basic cable’s highest-rated original series last year, drawing just over 7 million viewers for its premiere and averaging 5.4 million over its 13 episodes.

More of Miss America

The road to Miss America will go through Hollywood this year.

The pageant will tape a seven-episode documentary series titled “Finding Miss America” in Los Angeles from Sept. 5 to 13.

The series, which will air on Country Music Television for a week preceding the televised pageant finals in January (the exact date still to be determined), will show the 52 women in preliminary competition and give viewers a chance to choose which ones advance to the top 15 for a shot at becoming Miss America 2007.

Jettisoned by ABC after record-low ratings for the 2004 pageant, Miss America broke with 85 years of tradition last year in moving out of Atlantic City, where it was founded in 1921 as a bathing-beauty revue.