Showtime Renews ‘Shameless’, ‘House Of Lies’ And ‘Californication’
After a strong start to the current season, Showtime has given an early renewal to its entire Sunday lineup of Shameless, House Of Lies and Californication. With the pickup of dark comedy House Of Lies, both of Showtime’s freshman series greenlighted by entertainment president David Nevins are going into a second season, along with drama hit Homeland. Shameless has been picked up for a third season, while Californication was renewed for a sixth. “These three shows are clearly resonating with audiences as evidenced by their steady growth on Sunday nights,” Nevins said. “We are extremely pleased with the creative work being done by the casts, producers and writers – and I so appreciate that each of these series has such a clear and distinctive voice.”
Showtime’s Sunday night lineup is posting double-digit year-over-year growth for its returning series and strong numbers for rookie House Of Lies. Shameless averages 4.75 million weekly viewers, up 30% vs. Season 1 to rank as Showtime’s No. 2-rated show behind only Dexter. House Of Lies is on track to be Showtime’s highest-rated comedy. Season 5 of Californication averages 2.96 million viewers across all platforms, up 10% from Season 4.
Based on the long-running UK series, Shameless was adapted by the original series’ creator Paul Abbott and John Wells, who are executive producing with Andrew Stearn. William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum star on the series from John Wells Prods and Warner Bros TV. Corporate America satire House Of Lies, starring Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell, is created and executive produced by Matthew Carnahan. Jessika Borsiczky, Stephen Hopkins and Don Cheadle also executive produce the Showtime-produced show. Veteran Californication, starring David Duchovny, is created and executive produced by Tom Kapinos and executive produced by Duchovny.
No real surprise here easy the three best shows on Cable!
totally agree! showtime is the #1 channel!
Congrats to all!
I don’t know if I actually like House of Lies, but I find the cast to be immensely enjoyable, even if they are all narcissists in a way. The good thing about premium cable is that they don’t have to be “good guys” to watch them.
House of Lies is an embarrassment for all involved. Poorly written, directed and acted (yes, even don Cheadle). Its lowest common denominator entertainment. Congrats Showtime.
completely agree
Good…three reasons to still not subscribe.
i love cheadle in all his stuff, but can’t stand House of Lies. the whole show feels forced. it’s trying way to hard to edgy and cool. And there’s no one to root for. A bunch of rich assholes helping rich assholes. if they all died in a plane crash I could care less.
Now let’s see if they put Nurse Jackie out of its misery.
I wish Showtime would push for a better drama then renewing garbage…
Californication run aground two years ago. House of Lies is painful and Shameless is fine.
What about Matt LeBlanc’s EPISODES? It was renewed last year for a 2nd season but there hasn’t been a word about it since. Anything?
I believe the head of Showtime was recently quoted as saying that the scripts for all of the season two episodes of Episodes have been written and they are great, but nothing was said about when the showing is coming back. My guess is summer.
Episodes is currently shooting season 2 in the UK. If you have not seen season 1, do yourself a favor and check it out. It is really great! I do not work on the show or for showtime!
Episodes so so funny and smart i was soo happy that Leblanc won the GG for best actor!
Yep, looks like it’s a Summer launch for EPISODES …
Showtime Ent. Prez David Nevins said back in mid-Jan on Deadline his big priority for this coming Summer is the 2nd season of comedy Episodes starring Matt LeBlanc. There will be a major marketing shift this year, I think that the show has real potential,” Nevins said. He recalled reading all nine scripts of Season 2 in one sitting on one day, referring to that as “one of the most memorable days I had.” … http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/showtime-mounts-documentary-push-sets-return-dates-for-jackie-big-c-borgias/#more-213719
Showtime has the greatest Sunday night lineup of any channel – House of Lies should have had a title with Truth in it, cause it’s more real world than anything out there. Great cast, great stories, my only wish is that I could have it for an hour!
Nice work Showtime
Other than boardwalk empire showtime is spanking hbo
Game of Thrones, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Treme are also great. And love it or hate, but nothing on Showtime comes close to the ratings for True Blood. On Showtime, Homeland is a good show, but the rest of their lineup ranges from mediocre to just plain bad.