TNT’s Skies reaches its limit

US cablenet TNT has ordered a fifth and final 10-episode season of its sci-fi drama Falling Skies, while renewing a number of other dramas.

The series, executive produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Noah Wyle (ER), is set in the chaotic aftermath of an alien attack that has destroyed most of the world. It is produced by Spielberg’s DreamWorks Television and TNT Productions and has been sold into more than 75 countries.

The channel has also renewed The Last Ship, which averaged more than seven million viewers in its first season.

Michael Bay’s (Transformers, Black Sails) drama about a navy cruiser that survives a global apocalypse, leaving its crew to find their way in a ravaged, under-populated world, will get a 13-episode second run, produced by Bay’s prodco Platinum Dunes.

Police drama Major Crimes, a spin-off from TNT’s The Closer, is also returning for a 15-episode fourth season, produced by The Shephard/Robin Company and Warner Bros Television. The show was acquired by Universal Channel in the UK in 2013.