Much has been made about Mad Men having invigorated -- heck, downright saved -- AMC from disappearing into the basic-cable cosmos. And certainly the Golden-Globe-winning series, with its Sopranos-production pedigree, so-stylish-it-hurts design, and lauded performers (including its Globe-winning lead, Jon Hamm) is destined to remain a golden child until the Emmys and beyond.

But that series, and the other recent top-notch dramas that have made unlikely network winners out of ad-supported cable networks, wouldn't have had a chance had it not been for Michael Chiklis. (Stay with me here.) When the former Commish star's Vic Mackey first flashed an LAPD badge and that shiny bald head as the anti-hero cop on The Shield in early 2002, audiences didn't know whether to be excited or confused, or both. After all, this was the network that, for eight years prior, was known best as the dumping ground for re-runs of erstwhile hit-nerd shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The X-Files, as well as three-hour infomercials for the Windsor Pilates system and, most dubiously, NASCAR races.

Fully realizing their freedom from the mercurial whims of paid subscribers, the FX suits wisely took a gamble on The Shield and its crew of morals-challenged "strike team" LAPD cops. And while its viewership has waned throughout six seasons (season seven kicks off September 2), the critically-acclaimed show proved that edge-seeking audiences were not limited to HBO and Showtime and, with its 2003 Golden Globe win for Best Television Drama, it was actually possible for a little-guy network to de-throne the likes of The Sopranos, if only for a night.

And as we've seen in spades in the last five or so years -- in FX's Rescue Me and Damages, and TNT's The Closer and Saving Grace -- Hollywood's highest-caliber talent is fleeing to the far reaches of the dial, as reality TV (Biggest Loser, I love ya, but those two-hour eps are killing me) continues to chip away at the must-see-TV factor on NBC, ABC and CBS. In fact, according to the New York Times, cable's share grew 48 percent during the writer's strike as the big-three dropped double digits.

Will basic cable's star continue to rise once the big nets awaken from their writers'-strike comas? It's hard to say, but I do know that for now, the summer belongs to TNT and its leading ladies, Oscar-winner Holly Hunter and Emmy-winner Kyra Sedgwick. Their cops on Saving Grace and The Closer -- one a messed-up drunk dealing with a spirituality crisis in Oklahoma; the other a Southern belle LAPD deputy chief with a mean sugar addiction -- each return on July 14 with new episodes.

And while these twists on the cop genre don't quite compare to the grit-and-grime world of The Shield (here I'm trying to picture an angel named Earl teaching Mackey about redemption without getting a face full of bullets), these shows and their superb leading ladies owe immense gratitude to Mackey and Co. for making disturbed, flawed, and ultimately fascinating characters luxuries worthy of enjoyment by the masses.

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