TNT has summoned Franklin & Bash back to the stand for a second season of the hit legal drama starring Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer. Currently airing Wednesdays at 9 p.m. (ET/PT), Franklin & Bash ranks as one of basic cable’s top new series of the summer. Franklin & Bash is produced by Four Sycamore Productions, Left Coast Productions and FanFare Productions in association with Sony Pictures Television, with Jamie Tarses, Kevin Falls and Bill Chais serving as executive producers. TNT has ordered 10 episodes for the second season.

“This summer, Franklin & Bash has broken out as a hugely entertaining series with great characters, sharp writing and a terrific cast,” said Michael Wright, executive vice president, head of programming, for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies. “We’re thrilled that the show has drawn such a remarkably strong following and look forward to bringing it back next summer.”

In Franklin & Bash, Gosselaar and Meyer star as two young, fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants street lawyers who cause a seismic culture clash when they join a legendary, button-down law firm. Malcolm McDowell plays Stanton Infeld, a Renaissance man and the patriarch of the law firm. Also starring are Dana Davis, Kumail Nanjiani, Reed Diamond and Garcelle Beauvais.

Since premiering on June 1, Franklin & Bash has drawn 3.9 million viewers in Live + 7, ranking it among basic cable’s Top 5 new series for the summer-to-date. The series is averaging an outstanding 1.8 million adults 18-49 and adults 25-54. Franklin & Bash scores a significant number of viewers through time-shifted viewing, including a boost of well over 50% among key adult demos.

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Lucille Ball, Marlon Brando, Bette Davis, James Stewart, Debbie Reynolds, Humphrey Bogart and Shirley MacLaine among Stars Celebrated During Turner Classic Movies’ Ninth Annual SUMMER UNDER THE STARS

Month-Long Celebration of Hollywood’s Brightest Stars Showcases a Different Actor or Actress Each Day

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE 2011 SCHEDULE

TCM’s ultimate movie star showcase – SUMMER UNDER THE STARS – is back for its ninth year, as the network pays tribute to 31 different stars, with an entire day’s lineup dedicated to each of them. This year’s extraordinary roster includes cinematic giants like Marlon Brando (Aug. 1), Bette Davis (Aug. 3), John Garfield (Aug. 5), Shirley MacLaine (Aug. 10), Claudette Colbert (Aug. 12), James Stewart (Aug. 13), Humphrey Bogart (Aug. 17), Debbie Reynolds (Aug. 19), Montgomery Clift (Aug. 20), Cary Grant (Aug. 21), Joan Crawford (Aug. 22), Burt Lancaster (Aug. 25), Carole Lombard (Aug. 28) and Marlene Dietrich (Aug. 31). As a special spotlight during this year’s SUMMER UNDER THE STARS, TCM will celebrate the life and career of the incomparable Lucille Ball on Aug. 6, marking the 100th anniversary of her birth.

This year, more than half of TCM’s SUMMER UNDER THE STARS roster is made up of actors and actresses featured in the showcase for the very first time. The 17 newcomers to the programming festival include Paulette Goddard (Aug. 2), Ronald Colman (Aug. 4), Charles Laughton (Aug. 7), Orson Welles (Aug. 8), Ann Dvorak (Aug. 9), Ben Johnson (Aug. 11), Ralph Bellamy (Aug. 14), Lon Chaney (Aug. 15), Joanne Woodward (Aug. 16), Jean Gabin (Aug. 18), Conrad Veidt (Aug. 23), Joan Blondell (Aug. 24), Peter Lawford (Aug. 26), Linda Darnell (Aug. 27), Anne Francis (Aug. 29) and Howard Keel (Aug. 30).

SUMMER UNDER THE STARS also features 44 films making their first appearances on TCM, including the rarely screened Trent’s Last Case (1952 – Aug. 8), starring Orson Welles; a silent version of Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist (1922 – Aug. 15), with Jackie Coogan in the title role and Lon Chaney as Fagin; the William Faulkner adaptation The Sound and the Fury (1959 – Aug. 16), starring Joanne Woodward; the German expressionistic thriller The Hands of Orlac (1925 – Aug. 24), starring Conrad Veidt; and Luchino Visconti’s lavish drama The Leopard (1963 – Aug. 25), starring Burt Lancaster.

TCM’s popular franchises THE ESSENTIALS, co-hosted by TCM’s Robert Osborne and Emmy®-winning actor Alec Baldwin, and THE ESSENTIALS JR., hosted by Bill Hader, will continue throughout SUMMER UNDER THE STARS.

Saturdays at 8 p.m. (ET), THE ESSENTIALS offerings include Stage Door (1937 – Aug. 6), The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962 – Aug. 13), A Place in the Sun (1951 – Aug. 20) and the TCM premiere of A Letter to Three Wives (1948 – Aug. 27).

Sundays at 8 p.m. (ET), THE ESSENTIALS JR. will feature The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939 – Aug. 7), His Girl Friday (1940 – Aug. 14), Gunga Din (1939 – Aug. 21) and My Man Godfrey (1936 – Aug. 28).