Tribute Accolades: Drama/Music/Variety and Comedy

Sometimes, lightning does strike twice. When TNT asked executive producer, creator and writer James Duff for a companion piece to his successful Law & Order series, the result was the critical and popular hit The Closer.

“TNT had built a successful network. That’s part of the reason we were able to break out The Closer,” Duff said. “Law & Order was a big winner for them, so they wanted a companion piece. It’s fantastic when your network partner knows what it wants and TNT is great at fine-tuning. They get it. And that’s unusual.”

The Closer stars Golden Globe winner and Emmy nominee Kyra Sedgwick as an offbeat but forceful detective. According to Duff, the character is based on several people in his life — even himself.

“Brenda (Brenda Leigh Johnson, Sedgwick’s character) is part my mom, sister and a lot of me,” Duff said. “My uncle was a judge advocate with the Air Force and his negotiating style always fascinated me when I was younger. So, there’s police work in my family, and I’ve stayed abreast of intelligence in the U.S., including torture, which I’ve found to be a bad method of extracting the truth.”

The series and its protagonist also embody many of Women in Cable Telecommunications’ goals of advancing positive portrayals of women on TV.

“Brenda brings the strength of a woman and proof she can be a woman and do a man’s job as well, or better than a man,” Duff said. “Her professionalism was given a feminine spin and portrays a woman at the top of her game. She acts like a woman because she is one.”

Duff, who began his career as an actor, has been a successful executive producer, creator and writer. His Broadway drama Home Front, later renamed The War at Home, was made into a feature film. His other writing credits include the TV movie Doing Time on Maple Drive and the series Felicity.

But The Closer is something special. “I was always looking for ways to use my uncle’s experience. And my mom, sister and I merged into one person — Brenda,” Duff said. “Her character has also inspired a plethora of single female lead shows.”

The series, which has become ad-supported cable’s number one series of all time, is this year’s recipient of the WICT Tribute Accolade Award for a drama. The Tribute Accolade is awarded to an original cable television production that best portrays a woman or women as strong leaders and role models.

“We’re honored by the award because it’s given to us by women who in some ways reflect Brenda,” Duff said.