Beverly Hills, Calif. — Homeland will end after its next, and final, season, said David Nevins, president and CEO of Showtime Networks. The season starts in June.
Nevins said Homeland was the first series he greenlit at Showtime. “I can’t say enough how much Homeland has meant to our brand,” he said, during the network's portion of the 2018 TCA summer press tour.
Any reporters saying the show has been canceled, he quipped, would have to pay for their drinks at Showtime’s post-TCA party.
Related: Showtime Political Show ‘The Circus’ Back Sept. 16
Showtime shared a bunch of series, and season, premieres. Shameless and the Jim Carrey series Kidding start Sept. 9. “The tone of Shameless is like no other show on television,” said Gary Levine, president of programming.
The new season of Ray Donovan kicks off Oct. 28.
Also in October is Shut Up & Dribble, a documentary series from LeBron James about “the changing role of African-American athletes through the lens of the NBA,” said Nevins.
Related: Tom Fontana Named Showrunner of Showtime’s Affleck-Damon Drama ‘City on a Hill’
James has been in a spat with President Donald Trump, who questioned James’ intelligence after the hoops star appeared on CNN.
Nov. 18 marks the start of Enemies: The President, Justice and the FBI from Alex Gibney.
Season two of SMILF starts in January.
Also in the works are the ‘80s Wall Street comedy Black Monday, Boston crime drama City on a Hill, from Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and Escape at Dannemora, about the 2015 prison escape in upstate New York. Ben Stiller is behind that one.
Nevins mentioned a “significant ramp-up in investment” in the next few years at Showtime.
He said Showtime series “capture the zeitgeist—and anticipate where it’s going.”
He spoke of Who Is America? from Sacha Baron Cohen. “It has generated a lot of news, a lot of controversy, a lot of new sign ups,” said Nevins. “It’s a risk I’m really glad we took.”
He said he’s “dying” to bring the show back.
Nevins said Showtime is undecided on a new season of I’m Dying Up Here.
Showtime’s Halo series, based on the video game, is “without a doubt our most ambitious series ever,” said Nevins.
