Showtime has placed new season orders for Shamless, House of Lies and Californication.
The renewals of the dark, comedic trio mean the premium network will air a fourth season of Shameless, a third campaign for House of Lies and a seventh run of Californication.
The announcement comes as viewership has risen for all three of series. Season to date, Shameless is up 22% over last season, averaging 5.4 million weekly viewers across platforms; Californication is ahead 21% to average 3.1 million weekly viewers; and the sophomore season of House of Lies is 10% higher year-over-year with 3.2 million weekly viewers.
Each series returned to series high viewership for their Jan. 13 premieres.
"Californication, House of Lies, and Shameless possess highly distinctive comedic voices, and given that all three continue to grow their audience season after season - the pick-up decision was easy," said David Nevins, president of entertainment, Showtime Networks Inc., in announcing the renewals. "I am incredibly excited to see what each of these series has in store for their next seasons."
Shameless, House of Lies and Californication returned on Jan. 13 with their highest-rated episodes ever, scoring double-digits versus their series averages and besting their prior season premieres and season finales.
During its third week (Jan. 27), Shameless delivered 2.53 million viewers for the night, the series’ biggest total night ever, outperforming the season three premiere night of 2.44 million over two plays. Last Sunday, the third episode of House of Lies, starring Golden Globe-winner Don Cheadle, was on par with its season premiere, which delivered the series’ best numbers ever, with 1.4 million viewers for the night across two plays. Californicaion’s third, sixth-season installment attracted 1.05 million viewers.
