It’s not groundbreaking news since a deal’s been rumored for several days but TNT has made a deal to pick up NBC’s cancelled drama, Southland. Unfortunately, the news isn’t as great as one might hope.

The Los Angeles-based cop drama revolves around a group of officers from the LAPD. The Southland cast includes Benjamin McKenzie, Kevin Alejandro, Arija Bareikis, Michael Cudlitz, Shawn Hatosy, Regina King, Michael McGrady, Tom Everett Scott, Emily Bergl, Patrick Fischler, Lex Medlin, C. Thomas Howell, Emily Swallow, Carla Jeffery, Lori Alan, and Roxana Brusso.

Southland ran for seven episodes last spring on NBC. The show had a decent start but the numbers started to fade as the weeks progressed. That decline seemed to coincide with NBC’s decision to order another season.

Last month, with The Jay Leno Show filling the network’s 10pm timeslot, NBC decided to cancel the series before it returned. Part of their reasoning was that Southland felt too dark for the network’s earlier hours.

Production on Southland’s second season was shut down after six episodes and NBC would reportedly have to pay hefty cancellation fees for not following through on their 13 episode order.

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Series co-executive producer John Wells immediately said that he would try to find a new home for series. Speculation immediately turned to the TNT cable channel. Warner Bros. TV produces the cop drama and TNT is owned by Turner. Both fall under the Time Warner corporate umbrella.

Rumors were that NBC was holding up the deal but it seems that terms have now been worked out. TNT has bought the rights to air both the original seven episodes from season one as well as the six unaired installments from season two.

Of the pickup, Wells said, “We’re delighted that TNT has stepped forward to pick up Southland. We are all extremely proud of the show.”

As expected, the news isn’t as rosey as fans might have liked. TNT hasn’t said anything about putting the show back into production, only that they’ll be airing the already-produced episodes.

Southland will start airing on TNT on January 12th at 10pm (coincidentally opposite Jay Leno). The cable channel will take a wait-and-see approach before deciding if they want to produce more. If the ratings don’t meet their expectations, fans will surely be left with a whole lot of unresolved storylines.

What do you think? Are you just happy that TNT picked up the series or are you concerned that there won’t be any more episodes?

Image courtesy Warner Bros.