BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. _ Michelle Dockery has left Lady Mary Crowley and the rest of "Downton Abbey" behind her. But with her cultured British accent and slender, fragile build, she still looks more like aristocracy than an action star.
In TNT's "Good Behavior," though, she is just that. Dockery plays Letty Dobesh, a con artist and thief, in the dark thriller, based on the book series by Blake Crouch ("Wayward Pines").
"I was very fortunate that something so different from what I had been doing the last six years came my way," Dockery said when TNT introduced "Good Behavior" to TV critics meeting Sunday in Los Angeles. "I've loved it. We've had such a fun time."
In "Good Behavior," due Nov. 15, Letty is just out of jail when she gets entangled with a hit man (Juan Diego Botto) in what TNT calls a "seductive thriller" and "a messed-up love story."
"I've had the opportunity to play two very strong female characters, and there are some parallels with them," Dockery said. "It's just very different periods. ... Letty, she's an extraordinary character, colorful and raw, and she's fascinating to play."
In more Turner news:
_TNT has renewed "The Last Ship" for a 13-episode Season 4, to air next summer. Previously renewed were "Animal Kingdom," "Major Crimes," "Murder in the First" and "The Librarians," with "Rizzoli & Isles" airing its final season.
_Rod Lurie is adapting his novel "Monsters of God" for TNT. Set in Texas after the Civil War, the novel follows Col. "Terrible" Bill Lancaster as he attempts to wipe out the Comanches. Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment is part of the production.
_TNT teams with Charles Barkley for the six-episode documentary series "The Race Card," in which the former NBA star investigates the country's divisions. "We as Americans never discuss the issue of race in this country and how it impacts everything in our lives until something bad happens," Barkley said in the announcement. "I see this project as a way to talk about race, class and cultural differences and challenge everyone's status quo."
_TBS has picked up comedies "The Guest Book," a scripted anthology comedy from Greg Garcia ("My Name Is Earl," "Raising Hope"), and "Tarantula," the network's first original animated series.
_"People of Earth," a comedy about alien abduction, gets a preview Halloween night on TBS. "Search Party," starring Alia Shawkat ("Arrested Development"), will air its first season as a marathon on Thanksgiving week, then be on demand.
_TruTV has ordered eight episodes of a scripted anthology comedy series tentatively titled "Bobcat Goldthwait's Messed Up Stories," to premiere next year.
_Back this fall on Tru are new seasons of "Adam Ruins Everything," "Billy on the Street," "Impractical Jokers" and "Those Who Can't." Tru also announced that it had ordered a 16-episode Season 2 of the competition series "Comedy Knockout." Also ordered were 12 more episodes of "Fameless" and 10 episodes of "Greatest Ever."
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