Today's Entertainment

2 • July 24 - 30, 2016 • Brainerd Dispatch By Kyla Brewer TV Media A s the summer swelters on, game shows and reality TV pro- grams rule prime time. But for those who prefer more traditional TV fare, TNT serves up a police pro- cedural with a fresh cast and plenty of drama. Taye Diggs ("Private Practice") and Kathleen Robertson ("Boss") star as Terry English and Hildy Mulli- gan, homicide inspectors investigat- ing the murder of all-star quarter- back Normandy Parker in a new epi- sode of "Murder in the First," airing Sunday, July 24, on TNT. Set in San Francisco, the show was created by 10-time Emmy winner Steven Boch- co ("NYPD Blue") and Eric Lodal ("Laredo"), the latter of whom left the show midway through the sec- ond season for undisclosed reasons. As in previous seasons, season 3 follows a single, complicated inves- tigation instead of wrapping up a new mystery each week like many other prime-time dramas. When "Murder in the First" debuted in 2014, Bochco explained his prefer- ence for examining a single case throughout the season to the L.A. Times. "What's fun about the single storyline is you get to develop char- acters, to really make them well ex- amined," said the producer. Three seasons in, English and Mulligan are much more than ste- reotypical prime-time cops. Their personal lives are every bit as fasci- nating as the cases they tackle, from his grief over the death of his terminally ill wife to her struggles as a single mom. This season is ex- pected to be particularly heart- breaking as Mulligan faces a po- tentially life-threatening illness. The stress over what might happen to her daughter overwhelms her, even as the Parker case looms. Season 3 had originally been slated to begin June 19, but due to the tragic Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting, the debut was pushed to June 26, out of respect for the vic- tims and their loved ones. The same thing happened with TNT"s "The Last Ship." With a little more than 1.3 million viewers, numbers were down for this year's season pre- miere, but it's important to note that the June 26 opener aired op- posite the finale of the HBO jugger- naut "Game of Thrones," so there was bound to be a dip. "Murder in the First" has shown tremendous potential since its de- but in 2014, when it ranked among cable's top 10 prime-time dramas. Season 1 pulled in more than five million viewers per episode over multiple platforms, including about 3.76 million live viewers. The 12- episode second season clocked in with more than two million aver- age live viewers, and in December 2015, TNT announced "Murder in the First" had been renewed for a 10-episode third season, along with fellow hit dramas "Major Crimes" and "The Librarians." Although English and Mulligan are undoubtedly the focus of the series, Diggs and Robertson are supported by a strong cast. Currie Graham ("Raising the Bar") stars as chief prosecutor Mario Siletti, who's struggling in the wake of a tragic car accident this season. "Once Upon a Time's" Raphael Sbarge works alongside the two leads as philosophical homicide de- tective David Molk, who's been partnered up with Edgar Navarro, played by Lombardo Boyar ("The Bernie Mac Show"). Their SFPD squad is supervised by Ian Anthony Dale ("Hawaii Five-0") as Lieut. Jim Koto. The returning cast also in- cludes Mimi Kirkland ("Safe Ha- ven," 2013) as Hildy's young daughter, Louise. Back in March, news broke that Michael Gaston ("The Leftovers") had joined the third season cast of "Murder in the First." He portrays defense attorney Alfred Arkin, billed as a "warm family man." The role marks a reunion for Gaston and Bochco, who previously worked together in Bochco's "Blind Justice" for ABC. He isn't the only "Murder in the First" rookie, either. The cast also welcomes Corey Reynolds ("The Closer") as assis- tant district attorney Martin Rear- don. Sara Paxton ("Darcy's Wild Life") stars as Alicia Barnes, a trou- bled 22-year-old pop star who'd caught Parker's eye before his un- timely death. Eighties movie icon Anthony Michael Hall ("The Dead Zone") has been tapped to play Barnes's father, Paul. The cast is top notch, and it also helps that Bochco is no stranger to police dramas, with such legendary TV series as "NYPD Blue" and "Hill Street Blues" under his belt. He was also behind hits such as "L.A. Law" and "Doogie Howser, M.D." In fact, the producer and writer is such a luminary in the television industry that some credit him with changing the face of prime-time television dramas by pioneering the large en- semble cast and continuous story arcs. His legacy continues in "Murder in the First," which returns with a new episode Sunday, July 24, on TNT. In the episode, a suspect in the Parker case is murdered, giving some weight to English's conspira- cy theory. Meanwhile, Siletti's legal troubles become even more complicated because of a ruinous civil suit, which threatens to frac- ture the fragile peace he's made with his family. Also, Mulligan at- tempts to move on by going on a date. TNT will make the epi- sode available on de- mand the day after broadcast for anyone who might miss it, and oth- er season 3 epi- sodes will also be avail- able if fans want to rewatch or play catchup. 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