The Alienist: TV launch January 22

TNT Launches New Psychological Thriller The Alienist Jan. 22

Turner's TNT will take viewers into the darkest corners of New York City during the Gilded Age with the eagerly anticipated series. The Alienist based on the Anthony Award-winning international bestseller by Caleb Carr. Set in 1896 amidst a backdrop of vast wealth, extreme poverty and technological innovation, this psychological thriller stars Daniel Brühl (Rush), Luke Evans (The Girl on The Train), Dakota Fanning (American Pastoral) and Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker). The Alienist is slated to premiere on Monday, Jan. 22 at 9 p.m. ET/PT across TNT platforms. 

The Alienist opens when a series of haunting, gruesome murders of boy prostitutes grips New York City. Newly appointed police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt (Geraghty) calls upon criminal psychologist (aka alienist) Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Brühl) and newspaper illustrator John Moore (Evans) to conduct the investigation in secret. They are joined by Sara Howard (Fanning), a headstrong secretary determined to become the city's first female police detective. Using the emerging disciplines of psychology and early forensic investigation techniques, this band of social outsiders set out to find and apprehend one of New York City's first serial killers.

The Alienist also stars Douglas Smith (Miss Sloane) and Matthew Shear (Mistress America) as Marcus and Lucius Isaacson, twin brothers who help unravel the disturbing mystery; Matt Lintz (Pixels) as Stevie, a tough, young boy employed by Dr. Kreizler as a driver and errand boy; Robert Ray Wisdom (The Wire) as Cyrus, Kreizler's valet, a man with a dark past who has been reformed by Kreizler; and Q'orianka Kilcher (The New World) as Mary, Kreizler's mute maid with whom he shares a special unspoken connection.

Shot in Budapest, Hungary, The Alienist is a co-production of Paramount Television and Turner's Studio T. BAFTA-nominee Jakob Verbruggen (Black Mirror) serves as director and executive producer along with Emmy® winner Cary Fukunaga (True Detective), Academy Award® winner Eric Roth (Forrest Gump), Academy Award® nominees Hossein Amini (Drive) and E. Max Frye (Foxcatcher), Anonymous Content's Steve Golin and Rosalie Swedlin, along with Chris Symes. Serving as co-executive producers on the series are Marshall Persinger (Rectify) and Jamie Payne (The Driver).

TV News: Marcia Clark's Guilt by Association

TNT has greenlighted Guilt by Association, a pilot co-written by Marcia Clark, the lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson trial, and Nashville showrunner Dee Johnson, Deadline.com reported. The project is based on one of the novels in Clark's Rachel Knight series. Nelson McCormick (The Closer; Rizzoli & Isles) will direct the Guilt by Association pilot and executive produce.

HT: ShelfAwareness

TV News: David Baldacci Series

From the TNT Newsroom:

TNT has given the greenlight to a new untitled private-eye drama starring Jon Tenney (The Closer) and Rebecca Romijn (X-Men) and based on bestselling author David Baldacci‘s popular characters Sean King and Michelle Maxwell.

TNT has ordered 10 episodes of the series, which is being produced by CBS Television Studios. Shane Brennan (NCIS: LA), who penned the pilot, and Grant Anderson (Third Watch) serve as executive producers, with Karen Spiegel (Absolute Power) as producer. Baldacci is a consultant on the series, which is slated to premiere in summer 2013.

Sean King (Tenney) and Michelle Maxwell (Romijn) aren’t your typical pair of private investigators. Both are former Secret Service agents, and their unique skills – not to mention their razor-sharp chemistry – often give them a leg up on suspects and conventional law enforcement.

The untitled private-eye drama also stars Michael O’Keefe (Michael Clayton) as Rigby and Chris Butler (The Good Wife) as Carter, two FBI agents who occasionally cross paths with King and Maxwell. In addition, Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy, TNT’s Wanted) stars as Edgar Roy, a savant who helps King and Maxwell solve cases.

Baldacci, who has written more than 25 novels, first introduced readers to Sean King and Michelle Maxwell in his 2003 bestseller Split Second. The pair returned the following year in Hour Game and subsequently appeared in 2007′s Simple Genius, 2009′s First Family and 2011′s The Sixth Man.

HT: Shelf Awareness