TNT Gives 'Saving Grace' a Third Season

This was a no-brainer in so many ways — Oscar winner Holly Hunter, for starters — but still the network has to make it official before Saving Grace fans can properly jump for joy.

The time to have at it is right about now, then, because TNT has done the deed and renewed the series for a third season of fifteen episodes. In case you’re counting, that order equals the number of episodes in the current second season, which is on hiatus right now until early 2009.

What excellent news for us Grrl TV watchers. And if you’ve been enjoying the network’s new Steven Bochco legal drama Raising the Bar, that top-rated show was renewed for a second season of fifteen episodes on September 16, as well.

And, finally, as I was writing this post, the news dropped that HBO has renewed its freshman vampire series True Blood for a second season, too. The show’s cast is lead by Canadian Anna Paquin, who became the second youngest Academy Award winner in history when she received Best Supporting Actress honors at 11 years old for her performance in 1993′s The Piano, the same film that allowed Hunter to win her Best Actress Oscar.

Congrats to the cast and crews of each deserving series. Plus, don’t forget that Hunter is up for a Best Drama Actress Emmy when the 60th Primetime Awards special airs on ABC this Sunday, September 21, at 8pm EST.