TNT Re-Ups Hawthorne
Freshman Medical Series Averaging 3.8 Million Viewers
By R. Thomas Umstead
TNT Monday announced it will return its freshman drama series Hawthorne for a second season in 2010.
The "drama" network has ordered 10 additional episodes of the series, produced and starring Jada Pinkett Smith as a caring but no-nonsense Chief Nursing Officer at fictitious Richmond Trinity Hospital. The series is averaging 3.8 million viewers in its first season and has improved its time slot in adults 25-54 (up 90%). The series, which also stars Michael Vartan (Alias), Suleka Mathew (Men in Trees), David Julian Hirsh (Lovebites), Christina Moore (Hyperion Bay) and Hannah Hodson (TNT's The Ron Clark Story), performs well among DVR users according to TNT, averaging a 38% lift when comparing Live to Live + 7 delivery of adults 25-54.
"Hawthorne has been a great addition to TNT's lineup of original series, and Jada Pinkett Smith's performance has been a tremendous draw with viewers," said Michael Wright, executive vice president, head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM) in a statement. "There are powerful episodes remaining, and we're looking forward to what is certain to be an extraordinary second season."
