TNT’s Leverage Heats Up Winter

Television’s coolest gang of thieves, grifters and con artists are about to heat up winter with eight new episodes of TNT’s hit series Leverage. Academy Award winner Timothy Hutton, Gina Bellman, Christian Kane, Beth Riesgraf and Aldis Hodge star in this fast-paced, light-hearted caper series, which is currently enjoying its most successful season ever. Leverage returns with new episodes Sunday, Nov. 27, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).

Leverage centers on former insurance investigator turned thief Nate Ford (Hutton), who leads a crew determined to bring down rich and powerful people who exploit and take advantage of average, everyday people. His cohorts include Sophie Devereaux (Bellman), a brilliant grifter; Eliot Spencer (Kane), a retrieval specialist; Alec Hardison (Hodge), a gadget and technology wizard; and Parker (Riesgraf), a slightly off-center thief adept at rappelling off buildings.

The winter run of Leverage promises fans the same exciting twists and grifts, but this time in some surprisingly non-traditional jobs. In “The Office Job,” airing Sunday, Dec. 4, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT), a simple embezzlement scam becomes complicated when the team becomes part of a documentary shooting at the company they’re trying to save. Josh Randall guest stars in this mockumentary spoof.

In a special two-week event, the men and women of Leverage will work separate cons on their same “night off.” The women find themselves uncovering an international conspiracy with a thief, while the men work together to bust a drug deal that has put Nate’s friend Hurley (returning guest star Drew Powell) in danger. “The Girls’ Night Out Job,” which guest-stars Jeri Ryan in her return as the grifter Tara, will air Sunday, Dec. 11, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT), and “The Boys’ Night Out Job” will air Sunday, Dec. 18, at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).

In addition to Ryan and Powell, fans can expect a long list of guest stars this winter with the return of several familiar characters. The final episodes airing in January will feature the return of several characters from Leverage’s past, including Leon Rippy as Latimer, Tom Skerritt as Nate’s father, Jimmy Ford, Richard Chamberlain as Archie Leach, Kari Matchett as Nate’s ex-wife, Maggie Collins, Clayne Crawford as Mr. Quinn and Wil Wheaton as the team’s nemesis, Chaos Mason.

Leverage premiered in 2008 and has become one of cable’s biggest hits. The show’s fourth season has averaged more than 4.7 million viewers, up 5% compared to the prior summer. Leverage is executive-produced by Dean Devlin (Independence Day, TNT’s The Librarian movie series) and creators John Rogers (Transformers) and Chris Downey (The King of Queens). The series is produced for TNT by Devlin’s Electric Entertainment.