"Wanted": A role that doesn't require cross-dressing

If Kyra Sedgwick is the reason audiences are captivated by "The Closer," the frightening, edgy grit in TNT's "Wanted," premiering 10 p.m. July 31 (with a TV-MA rating) will likely be its main draw.

This new show from "Homicide: Life on the Street" writer Jorge Zamacona follows a specialized team of law enforcement agents hunting down the 100 most wanted criminals in Los Angeles. "Wanted's" cast runs the gamut from Gary Cole as the Everyman trying to keep his wits about him, to Saliva lead singer Josey Scott, playing the team's tech genius.

Tergesen

Viewers should also recognize Lee Tergesen, who played the tormented Tobias Beecher in the landmark HBO series "Oz." For the benefit of those who didn't keep up with the prison drama's twisted twists, Tergesen's character shared a poisonous love affair with a psycho played by "Law & Order: SVU's" Christopher Meloni.

Recently he appeared in FX's "Rescue Me" as the new guy in Ladder 62. Three episodes in, his co-workers glimpsed him wearing women's bondage gear in a burning S&M parlor. Notice a pattern yet?

Tergesen did, good-naturedly pointing it out this morning while telling us about his decision to take "Wanted."

"Jorge called me when he was still putting the pilot together, and I wasn't available. So when it got picked up, he called me again and said he wanted to create this character Eddie Drake for me," he recalled. "And when I found out that if Eddie had sex at all, it was going to be with women... that's what really attracted me.

"Not to say anything against Chris Meloni. He's a wonderful lover," he joked.

And his "Rescue Me" character? Done, as far as he knows. "Once you wear pleather, really, can you go back? I don't think so."

I think we're all with him on that one.