The cable networks have been very, very good to women over the last few years. Particularly strong, independent women who are on par, or many times above, the men in their lives. This has been exemplified by characters like Brenda Johnson in The Closer, PJ Franklin on My Boys, Nancy Botwin on Weeds, Patty Hewes on Damages, and the ladies from HBO's Sex in the City.

Last year, someone new joined Leigh, PJ, and the rest of the women of cable. Her name was Grace Hanadarko -- the smoking, drinking, and sexually promiscuous Oklahoma City police detective from TNT's Saving Grace. Grace is played by Holly Hunter, the award-winning actress who has appeared in such films as Raising Arizona, The Piano (for which she won an Academy Award) and The Incredibles. Late last week, Holly spoke to members of the press concerning the second season of Saving Grace (premiering tonight at 10 pm) and what's in store for the hard-living detective.

Well, it looks like two of TNT's Monday primetime dramas are coming back for another season. Last week we reported that The Closer was returning for a fourth season. Now it looks like Saving Grace will be returning as well.

Grace, which stars and is produced by Holly Hunter, has received a network order for an additional 15 episodes. Since premiering on July 23rd the show has ranked tops among new cable shows. With its lead-in of The Closer the show has averaged 5.5 million viewers each week.

This leaves Heartland, which stars Treat Williams, as the only TNT Monday night drama yet to be renewed. Hopefully the curse of Everwood doesn't hang over this medical drama.

I feel sorry for celebrities who have to sit in a chair and answer inane questions from journalists (like me). They answer the same question 400 times and probably aren't even sure who they're talking to most of the time because it's just one interviewer after another. And when you get someone who doesn't even know what they're doing...

Case in point: this reporter from ABC News Now, who has the born-to-work-on-an-entertainment-show name of Merry Miller. She's interviewing Holly Hunter about her new TNT show Saving Grace, and I have to agree with Best Week Ever when they say that it's like a teenager got into the press junket. You'll rarely see someone as nervous and ill-prepared, and thanks to the web you can watch it over and over and over again! My favorite part is when she tells viewers at the end to go to NBCnews.com. Video after the jump (original video on ABC is here, edited for less awkwardness.)

I'm not sure if this means that TNT doesn't have any faith in the show or if they have a lot of faith in the show. I sense the former.

The network has announced that they are moving the new Treat Williams medical drama Heartland from the cushy post-Closer spot at 10pm on Mondays to 8pm. That means it won't have a strong lead-in (The Closer is doing great in the ratings) and will have to kick off the night on its own. Heartland isn't exactly a hit with critics.

What's going in the 10pm slot? Glad you asked! It's Saving Grace, a new show starring Holly Hunter as an alcoholic cop who gets help from an angel after she causes an accident.

[via TV Tattle]

As Brett mentioned last December, TNT has two new series planned: Heartland, starring Treat Williams; and Saving Grace, starring Holly Hunter (the series was originally called Grace). In Heartland, Williams plays a brilliant heart transplant surgeon who struggles with his family life. Hunter plays a police detective who's visited by an angel.