TV.com: The Closer renewed for third season: The TNT series, whose season-two premiere posted the highest numbers ever for a basic cable show, received the thumbs-up from the network for a third season. The June 12 season premiere broke records for basic cable when it was watched by 8.3 million viewers. The show has continued to receive high ratings and currently ranks as the number-one scripted show on ad-supported cable. as opposed to subscription cable HBO, Showtime. I guess.
TNT ordered 15 episodes of the Kyra Sedgwick police drama to run in the summer of 2007.
so the December two hour 'special event' is just that.