TNT Greenlights Michael Bay’s The Last Ship

TNT has given the greenlight to The Last Ship, an action-drama executive produced by Michael Bay. The show, centering on a Naval destroyer that avoids falling victim to a global catastrophe, is set to debut sometime in 2014 with a 10-episode first season.

“The Last Ship has all the elements of a big Hollywood blockbuster, from its epic storytelling to its top-notch cast headed by the perfect leading man, Eric Dane,” said Michael Wright, president, head of programming for TNT, TBS and Turner Classic Movies (TCM). “Michael Bay and his fellow executive producers have shaped William Brinkley’s story and characters into an exceptional drama full of action, suspense, tragedy and triumph. The Last Ship is smart, fun television that takes you on a great ride.”

The Last Ship stars Eric Dane (Grey’s Anatomy) as Captain Tom Chandler, a career Navy man who is authoritative and decisive, but also fair and courageous; Rhona Mitra (Strike Back) as Rachel Scott, a strong-willed, intelligent and fearless paleomicrobiologist assigned to the Nathan James to investigate the cause of billions of deaths worldwide; Adam Baldwin (Firefly) as Slattery, the ship’s second-in-command who worries deeply about his family and occasionally clashes with Dane’s Captain Chandler over the best course of action; and Tracy Middendorf (Boardwalk Empire) plays Darien Chandler, the captain’s wife.

The network has one other pilot still in contention for a pickup. Legends, starring Sean Bean and executive produced by Homeland‘s Howard Gordon, centers on Martin Odum, a deep-cover operative who has an uncanny ability to transform himself into a different person for each job. With its upfront presentation looming next week, TNT might wait until then to announce the pickup, if there is to be one.

Will you be watching The Last Ship? Can a show like this survive on TNT, which is known more for its quirky legal dramas? If the show does make an impact, should the network lean more on this type of programming?