The Closer Creator James Duff Previews "Star Turn"

The Closer Of all the darker passions lurking in the ordinary psyche, none is more brilliantly deceptive than the love of glory. Fame-seeking destroys decent people in ways only an addict could truly comprehend. Wars, political debacles, the dispassionate way one's personal honor is laid aside in order to bask in the bonfire of a media burnout: the infamy of fame knows no limits and, once embraced, can hardly ever be fully released.Sadly, most of us are more susceptible to the influence of celebrity than we would like to admit: it's a natural vulnerability, exploited by confessional talk shows and pop idol magazines, a disease that rivals the common cold, germinating public divorces into headline news, and superstar meltdowns into documentary fevers. It is impossible to live in LA-LA land without observing the mind-altering effects of too much recognition; it's made me want to forever sign my name with invisible ink.On The Closer, we have mostly stayed away from the famous when detailing the murders investigated by Deputy Chief Johnson and her Major Crimes division. It's hard to sound authentic when discussing a fictional celebrity. But what about those poor souls who flood Los Angeles on a daily basis, seeking the riches associated with fame and glory; the corpses of moths littering the bright, white spotlight, all the dazzled individuals incinerated by the projection of their own incandescent vanity?In "Star Turn," we begin with a man who moves his family from Ft. Wayne, Indiana to a Hollywood apartment based on the dream that his "little girl" might achieve the renown he and his wife were denied. He pays to produce a music video, starring said teenage daughter (feel free, at this moment, to make comparisons to a recent cultural phenomenon if you are so inclined); shortly after this saccharine song (a country-western pop anthem that we have done our dead level best to perform without irony) appears on-line, our delusional dad goes missing. The song "Daddy Say Yes," (which was recently posted on our Facebook page without the disclaimer that it was supposed to be tacky), becomes an instant, viral sensation.Fame achieved! But at what cost? A body is found. A family destroyed. A double-dealing manager appears, as well as a disgruntled grandfather, and, in a sly, special appearance, the much-admired Mario Lopez adds a veneer of polish to the whole affair. Special Guest Stars Ken Howard, Marc Pellegrino and Curtis Armstrong churn the action as Brenda Leigh Johnson threads her way toward a final decision in the pending lawsuit brought against her by the family of Turell Baylor.There is much yet to say about The Closer's last episodes, but there are still more of them to come than we have aired. We are, in fact, as of this writing, filming our hundredth entry into the series, and though we approach our summer finale with some sadness, we have lots of work left to do before our farewell. In the meantime, I should mention the multi-talented Stacey K. Black, in addition to composing the words and music to the Chekhovian masterpiece, "Daddy Say Yes", directed "Star Turn," and that Leo Geter wrote the script, and that the rest of the score - as always - was composed by the genius, Jimmy Levine, about whom I will be writing next week when we discuss Brenda's fate in "Fresh Pursuit."Until then. James Duff