TNT picks up Frank Darabont’s noir L.A. cop drama

Frank Darabont left AMC’s “The Walking Dead” in a dispute with the network last year during production of the hit zombie series’ second season. But while the zombies are continuing to shuffle over there, Darabont is back with a new series, and he’s got several familiar faces with him.

TNT has ordered six episodes of the currently untitled series, set in Los Angeles during the 1940s and ‘50s, that follows the exploits of cops and mobsters. It’s based on the book “L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America’s Most Seductive City” by John Buntin, which told the story of the battle between Los Angeles Police Department chief William Parker and mobster Mickey Cohen.

Darabont is bringing some of his favorite “Walking Dead” actors along with him to the new series. Jon Bernthal, last seen as the zombie Shane on “The Walking Dead,” is starring as a good guy this time, as ex-Marine and LAPD cop Joe Teague. Jeffrey DeMunn, who played Dale on “The Walking Dead,” plays a police detective heading up the LAPD’s new mob squad. Other cast members include Neal McDonough, Milo Ventimiglia, Ron Rifkin, Pihla Viitala and Alexa Davalos.

Simon Pegg will guest star in the pilot episode as a third-rate stand-up comedian and mob associate.

TNT is making a move to expand to year-round original programming, with six original series set to air this winter, including new seasons of “Rizzoli & Isles,” “Leverage,” “Dallas” and “Southland,” and the premieres of the medical drama “Monday Mornings” and the unscripted drama “Boston’s Finest.”

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Join Patrick Kevin Day on Google+ or Twitter. Email: patrick.day@latimes.com

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