As The Closer premiered its fourth installment, the TNT drama remained the most popular series on cable television, drawing 7.8 million viewers on Monday.  Despite a decline of 1 million viewers from its stunning 8.8 million season 3 premiere, it still beat the competition by some huge margins.

The series, which stars Kyra Sedgwick as a Los Angeles investigator, is still the most popular show this year on ad-supported cable.

The premiere came up to everyone's expectations, apparently.  As those who've seen it beforehand attested, if you're a fan of the show, you are absolutely going to go crazy over the debut, which features a wildfire in Griffith Park, so huge that it takes four lives and threatens to raze parts of Los Angeles, Glendale, and Burbank.  The magnitude of Brenda's (Sedgwick) latest crime scene already reflects the lengths this show is willing to go.  The premiere also involved a pesky reporter that seemed to make everything in Brenda's case a little harder.

While it is already riding on such soaring ratings, The Closer's executive producer has another news that can even possibly make the fans go wilder.

James Duff tells TV Guide that wedding bells might be heard on this season of The Closer.

"I will tell you that the first episode of this winter begins with Brenda trying on several wedding dresses,” he confirms.  “A date is set, but will that date be met?  That's the question that we're asking. Conventional wisdom has it that romance is over once you marry, on television.  But I'm not a big fan of conventional wisdom so I can't really tell you exactly how it will happen or if, but this looks like a good relationship to me."

-Glenn Diaz, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: New York Times, TV Guide
(Image courtesy of TNT)