A brand new series heading to TNT is set to feature a recurring role with our favorite Chief Engineer, LeVar Burton. Perception stars Eric McCormack (from Will & Grace fame) as Dr. Daniel Pierce, a neuroscientist and professor recruited to help the federal government crack difficult cases. LeVar is set to play the Dean of the University where Pierce is a professor. The show is created by long time Star Trek: Voyager writer / producer Kenneth Biller. Kenneth joined Voyager as an Executive Story Editor with the first season episode "Parallax". Beginning with the second season episode, "Dreadnought", Biller became a Co-Producer on the series. He was named Producer by season four, Supervising Producer at the start of season five, and Co-Executive Producer at the beginning of the sixth season. During the seventh and final season, he was an Executive Producer on the show. Kenneth also co-wrote the Klingon Encounter ride for Star Trek: The Experience with René Echevarria.

Check out the press release below for the full details on Perception.

Release Date: 8/17/2011
TNT Begins Production on Perception, New Drama Series Starring Emmy® Winner Eric McCormack

TNT began production this week on its intriguing new original series Perception, starring Emmy® and Screen Actors Guild Award® winner Eric McCormack (Will & Grace, Who Is Clark Rockefeller?). The series about an eccentric neuroscientist who helps solve complex criminal cases also stars Rachael Leigh Cook (She’s All That), Arjay Smith (The Day After Tomorrow) and Kelly Rowan (The O.C.). TNT has ordered 10 episodes of Perception, which will join the network’s lineup in summer 2012.

In Perception, McCormack plays Dr. Daniel Pierce, a neuroscientist and professor recruited to help the federal government crack difficult cases. His intimate knowledge of human behavior and masterful understanding of the mind give him an extraordinary ability to read people, but his eccentric view of the world and less-than-stellar social skills can often interfere with his work.

Cook co-stars as FBI agent Kate Moretti, Pierce’s former student and the person responsible for recruiting him to work for the government. Smith plays Max Lewicki, the teaching assistant whose primary job is to keep Pierce in line and on task. Rowan is Natalie Vincent, Pierce’s best friend and every bit his intellectual equal. In addition, award-winning actor LeVar Burton (Roots, Star Trek: The Next Generation) will play a recurring role as Paul Haley, a dean at the university.

Perception, which comes to TNT from ABC Studios, was created by executive producer Kenneth Biller (Star Trek: Voyager, Smallville) and co-executive producer Mike Sussman (Star Trek: Enterprise), with McCormack serving as producer. Alan Poul (Six Feet Under) directed and served as executive producer for the pilot. David Eagleman, a professor at Baylor School of Medicine and author of the New York Times Top 10 bestseller Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, serves as a technical consultant on the series.

A photo from the first day of production on TNT’s Perception is available on the TNT online pressroom at http://on.tnt.tv/7Ng4WQ.

About ABC Studios
ABC Studios, part of ABC Entertainment Group, develops and produces compelling programming for both broadcast network and cable television as well as digital platforms. ABC Studios has delivered some of the most successful, talked-about and evolutionary series on television such as Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Criminal Minds, Army Wives and Brothers & Sisters.

About TNT
TNT, one of cable’s top-rated networks, is television’s destination for drama. Seen in 100.5 million households, the network is home to such original series as The Closer, starring Emmy® winner Kyra Sedgwick; Rizzoli & Isles, starring Angie Harmon and Sasha Alexander; Falling Skies, starring Noah Wyle; Franklin & Bash, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer; Leverage, starring Timothy Hutton; Hawthorne, with Jada Pinkett Smith; Memphis Beat, with Jason Lee; and Southland, from Emmy-winning producer John Wells (ER). TNT also presents such powerful dramas as The Mentalist, Bones, Supernatural, Las Vegas, Law & Order, CSI: NY, Cold Case and, starting next year, Castle; broadcast premiere movies; compelling primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards®; and championship sports coverage, including NASCAR, the NBA and the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship. TNT is available in high-definition.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company, creates and programs branded news; entertainment; animation and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

(source Press Release. Info Source Memory Alpha)