TNT prides itself on creating memorable characters in equally memorable series. Heck, their motto is "We Know Drama," and it shows. Series such as The Closer, Falling Skies, Franklin & Bash, Leverage and Southland all call the network home. So too does the excellent Rizzoli & Isles, which made its debut on Showcase Tuesday night.

Starring Angie Harmon as Jane Rizzoli and Sasha Alexander as Maura Isles, the gritty, darkly comic series follows the duo as they solve murders and other heinous crimes in and around Boston. Homicide detective Jane is rough and tumble, a tomboy who sports a ponytail and minimum of makeup, while coroner Maura sports the most up-to-date fashions and dresses up to help someone move addresses. The two opposites—of course—attract when it comes to solving crimes.

The most obvious comparison on television would be Cagney & Lacey, the '80s cop drama which starred Tyne Daly and Sharon Gless as an inseparable female police duo. Rizzoli & Isles is based on the book series by author Tess Gerritsen, a former medical doctor who has since retired from that profession to write full-time. Gerritsen herself is credited as a writer for the series, which is in the middle of Season 2 south of the border and nabs close to 10 million weekly viewers.

The series' success can be placed solely on the buddy cop formula between Jane and Maura. They trade barbs with each other over corpses—Maura teasing Jane over her lack of a love life, and Jane countering with cracks about Maura’s fastidiousness—adding lightness to violent proceedings.

Tuesday's debut, "See One, Do One, Teach One" set the dark tone immediately, with the violent murder of a doctor and the kidnapping of his wife. The evidence suggested a killer collared by Jane, but with him in prison for his crimes a copycat was suspected. The tough-as-nails Jane (Harmon's angled jaw makes her the perfect no-nonsense cop) dropped by the prison to question the convicted killer, Hoyt, leading to flashbacks to his crimes, and how he kidnapped Jane, nailing her to a plywood sheet by scalpels through the palms of her hands. While she was saved from a gruesome demise, she is still wearing the physical scars of Hoyt’s attack as well as the mental ones. In a scene reminiscent of Clarice Starling conferring with Hannibal Lecter, Hoyt made Jane squirm before admitting he's trained an apprentice, who’s committing murders on his behalf.

With the bodies of men and women piling up, and Jane and Maura were on a race to ID the killer. In what was a tad formulaic, Hoyt faked a seizure, escaped prison and was reunited with his murderous fan. The two captured Jane and Hoyt prepared to finish the job he'd started. This being just the first episode of a show called Rizzoli & Isles, it was predetermined that she'd escape again, killing both men in the process.

Taut writing, dark storylines and gallows humour are the key reasons Rizzoli & Isles is pulling in impressive ratings for TNT, but you can't discount the importance of its key cast. Lorraine Bracco seems a trifle out of place as Jane’s strict mother, but Lee Thompson Young (FlashForward) and Bruce McGill (Wolf Lake) are both excellent as fellow investigators on the team and provide comic relief too.

But make no mistake, this is a vehicle being driven by the tandem of Harmon and Alexander. It's shiny, pretty, sleek and fun to take out for a spin.

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