Showtime Gives Sophomore Runs To Shameless And Episodes

It’s a good, if not predictable, week for both new Showtime offerings. Shameless and Episodes have each been renewed for sophomore campaigns, little surprise considering each was pulling between seven hundred and fifty thousand and a million viewers per new episode. No official announcements have been made, but it’s widely assumed all the major cast members will return for shoots likely to begin late this year with an eye on premiering early next.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Shameless has been given a season order of twelve, but the final numbers for Episodes won’t be known for another few weeks. That’s likely due partly to popularity and format. It’s much easier to put in a few filler episodes of a show like Shameless than stretch out a comedy needlessly. The bottle episode works in a sitcom, but not quite as well in a thoughtful half hour dramedy. Plus, Shameless averaged almost two hundred thousand more viewers than Episodes. No offense, Matt LeBlanc, but you’re no William H. Macy.

Have you guys been watching Shameless? I caught part of the pilot, but that was hardly enough to make a judgment call. Different sources have told me either best show on television or not as good as expected. Is it worth my time?

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.