‘THE Closer” is getting too big – and too good – to be a summer show.

Police dramas come and go, but the hit TNT program starring Kyra Sedgwick as a gifted Georgia cop transplanted to Los Angeles could probably hold its own against any broadcast network show in the fall.

While not ruling it out, TNT officials say it’s not a move that’s likely to happen soon.

“The feeling right now is that we love it right where it is,” says TNT’s Michael Wright, senior vice president of original programming. “If I had to sum up my feelings for this show in one word it would be ‘grateful.’ ” Since its second-season premiere last month – which set a cable record with 8.3 million viewers – “The Closer” has consistently ranked among the top three most-watched shows on cable, averaging 6.2 million viewers.

That’s a huge rating for cable, easily clobbering a substantial number of the bigger broadcast networks’ summer fare.

It’s also about on par with what “The Closer” averaged last summer.

When TNT aired the show’s entire first season for a second time this past winter, it drew about half that audience – still strong ratings, since dramas are typically not successful in repeats.

“What we sensed was that it was finding new viewers,” says Wright.

He attributes the success of the show to its producers and to star Sedgwick, who received an Emmy nomination last week.

“Toward the end of last season, rather than basking in their own success, they said, ‘How do we make it better?’ ” says Wright.

“These are smart, thoughtful people behind this show, and I can’t stress that enough.”