Leverage: TV Series Renewed for Season Five on TNT

While some TV shows are losing viewers, TNT’s Leverage is having more success than ever. As a result, the cable channel has renewed the action series for a fifth season of 15 episodes.

AS they have in the past, TNT is breaking up the current fourth season of Leverage into two parts. The summer finale (episode 10) will air on August 28th. That will leave five episodes which will run in November and December. Season five is slated to air next summer.

Here’s the press release from TNT:

TNT Adds More “Leverage” as Hit Caper Series Enjoys Best Season Yet

TNT has renewed its fast-paced, light-hearted caper drama Leverage for a fifth season, just as the fourth season is shaping up to score the show’s biggest ratings yet. TNT has ordered 15 episodes of Leverage, with the fifth season slated to launch in summer 2012. The series – which centers on a gang of grifters, hackers and thieves out to settle scores against the rich and powerful – currently airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m. (ET/PT). After the show’s Aug. 28 summer finale, Leverage will return to wrap up its fourth season with new episodes in November and December.

Leverage is the latest high-profile series renewal from TNT following new season orders for Rizzoli & Isles, which is running neck-and-neck with TNT’s The Closer as basic cable’s #1 series; Falling Skies, which ranks as basic cable’s #1 new series for the year-to-date; and Franklin & Bash, which ranks among basic cable’s Top 10 new series this summer. TNT’s top-ranked drama The Closer is in the midst of its extended final season, which will continue in the winter and wrap in summer 2012.

Leverage premiered in 2008 and has grown its audience in each of its four seasons. This summer, leading into TNT’s new blockbuster hit Falling Skies, Leverage has expanded its audience to more than 4.8 million viewers, up 10% over season three, with 1.9 million adults 18-49 (+6%) and 2.3 million adults 25-54 (+9%).

“While many shows decline in their second, third or fourth seasons, Leverage has defied the odds and continued to climb,” said Michael Wright, executive vice president and head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM). “More and more viewers are discovering this weekly joy ride through wonderfully complex schemes and con games, all brought to life through smart writing, sharp directing and a terrific cast.”

Leverage stars Academy Award(R) winner Timothy Hutton as insurance-investigator-turned-thief Nate Ford, who makes it his mission to bring down those who use their power and wealth to victimize others. Also starring are Gina Bellman as brilliant grifter Sophie Devereaux, Christian Kane as retrieval specialist Eliot Spencer, Beth Riesgraf as slightly off-center thief Parker and Aldis Hodge as gadget and technology wizard Alec Hardison. Leverage is produced by Dean Devlin’s Electric Entertainment, with Dean Devlin and creators John Rogers and Chris Downey serving as executive producers.

About TNT
TNT, one of cable’s top-rated networks, is television’s destination for drama. Seen in 100.5 million households, the network is home to such original series as The Closer, starring Emmy(R) winner Kyra Sedgwick; Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander; Falling Skies, starring Noah Wyle; Franklin & Bash, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; Hawthorne, with Jada Pinkett Smith; Memphis Beat, with Jason Lee; and Southland, from Emmy-winning producer John Wells (ER). TNT also presents such powerful dramas as The Mentalist, Bones, Supernatural, Las Vegas, Law & Order, CSI: NY, Cold Case and, starting next year, Castle; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards(R); and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR, the NBA and the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news, entertainment, animation and young adult media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

What do you think? Are you glad to hear that Leverage has been renewed for season five or would you have preferred that it be cancelled? Does it bother you that they break up the seasons?

Image courtesy TNT.

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