Showtime - Shameless Renewed, Happyish Ordered to Series and Premiere Dates Announced *Press Releases Added*

SHOWTIME COMEDY SHAMELESS GETS SIXTH SEASON PICK-UP

Hot off its season five premiere last night, SHOWTIME has ordered a sixth season of SHAMELESS, the network’s highest-rated comedy series for a 12-episode order. Production on season six starting later this year.

The fifth season of SHAMELESS stars Oscar nominee and Emmy winner William H. Macy as pickled patriarch Frank Gallagher and Golden Globe nominee Emmy Rossum as daughter Fiona. Recently garnering three Emmy Award nominations in the ‘Comedy’ category, as well Golden Globe and SAG noms for Macy, SHAMELESS season 5 finds the Gallaghers dealing with the upsides and downsides of personal growth and urban renewal. As their neighborhood begins a move towards gentrifying, the Gallagher clan tries to reconcile their chaotic past in the hopes of building a better future. Dermot Mulroney, Steve Kazee and Sasha Alexander guest star. The series stars Macy and Rossum, along with Ethan Cutkosky, Emily Bergl, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howey, Emma Kenney, Cameron Monaghan, Jeremy Allen White, Noel Fisher and special guest star Joan Cusack. Based on the long-running hit U.K. series, SHAMELESS is executive-produced by Emmy Award winning television and film producer John Wells, Andrew Stearn, Christopher Chulack, Davey Holmes and Nancy Pimental. Wells developed the series for American television. Paul Abbott serves as executive consultant. SHAMELESS is produced by Bonanza Productions, Inc. in association with John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. Television.

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Showtime

Final Shift of NURSE JACKIE To Start Sunday, April 12th; Season Two of PENNY DREADFUL To Premiere Sunday, April 26th

This spring, SHOWTIME will bid farewell to one of its signature series with the premiere of NURSE JACKIE’s final season on Sunday, April 12th at 9 P.M. ET/PT, followed by the highly-anticipated second season of the hit drama series PENNY DREADFUL on Sunday, April 26th at 10 P.M. ET/PT.

NURSE JACKIE, which will conclude its seven season run with twelve episodes, stars Emmy winner Edie Falco as Jackie Peyton, an ER nurse who over the years has struggled with addiction while trying to balance her career and family. NURSE JACKIE picks up at the exact moment that season six left off. Jackie Peyton steps out of her mug shot and into a world of unrelenting consequences. Arrested, abandoned by those closest to her, Jackie’s nursing license is revoked. This season, we watch Jackie fight to reclaim her sobriety, her job, her people, her children and her identity. NURSE JACKIE also stars Merritt Wever, Paul Schulze, Dominic Fumusa, Anna Deavere Smith, Stephen Wallem, Betty Gilpin, Ruby Jerins, Mackenzie Aladjem and Peter Facinelli. Clyde Phillips serves as showrunner and executive producer. Tom Straw, Richie Jackson, Liz Flahive and Caryn Mandabach also executive produce. NURSE JACKIE is a co-production between SHOWTIME and Lionsgate.

The psychological thriller PENNY DREADFUL returns with ten episodes for its second season, which finds Vanessa (Eva Green) and Ethan (Josh Hartnett) forming a deeper bond as the group, including Sir Malcolm (Timothy Dalton), Dr. Frankenstein (Harry Treadaway), and Sembene (Danny Sapani), unite to banish the evil forces that threaten to destroy them. Meanwhile, Dorian Gray (Reeve Carney), the Creature (Rory Kinnear) and Brona (Billie Piper) are all waging battles of their own. Patti LuPone will guest star as a mysterious character of great importance in Vanessa’s past. Helen McCrory returns as Evelyn Poole (a.k.a. Madame Kali), the seductive spiritualist who will pose a unique threat to our protagonists this season, along with Simon Russell Beale, who is back as eccentric Egyptologist Ferdinand Lyle. Additional guest stars include Douglas Hodge as a Scotland Yard investigator; Sarah Greene as Poole’s powerful daughter, Hecate; and Jonny Beauchamp as a man with a singular past. PENNY DREADFUL is a drama series created, written and executive produced by three-time Oscar nominee John Logan (Hugo, The Aviator, Gladiator) and executive produced by Logan’s Desert Wolf Productions, along with Oscar winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty,Skyfall) and Pippa Harris (Revolutionary Road, Call The Midwife), both of Neal Street Productions.

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Showtime

SHOWTIME GETS “HAPPYISH” ON APRIL 26

We’re excited to announce that SHOWTIME will pick up the new series HAPPYISH starring Oscar and Golden Globe nominee Steve Coogan, Kathryn Hahn and Emmy Award winner and Golden Globe nominee Bradley Whitford. The series is a comedic, soul-searching examination of our pursuit of happiness and why it continues to be so elusive. HAPPYISH, which shoots in New York, will premiere on April 26th at 9:30 p.m. ET./PT, immediately following NURSE JACKIE airing at 9 p.m., and followed by the premiere of the second season of the SHOWTIME drama series PENNY DREADFUL at 10 p.m. Emmy and Tony Award winner Ellen Barkin, Emmy Award winner Carrie Preston (The Good Wife), Molly Price (Third Watch) and Andre Royo (The Wire) will guest star.

HAPPYISH was created, written and executive produced by critically acclaimed author and regular This American Life contributor Shalom Auslander. Emmy Award nominee Ken Kwapis (He’s Just Not That Into You, A Walk In The Woods) will executive produce and direct the pilot. Kwapis’ producing partner Alexandra Beattie will co-executive produce, under their In Cahoots banner.
Coogan will star in the lead role of Thom Payne, a 44 year-old man whose world is thrown into disarray when his 25 year-old “wunderkind” boss arrives, saying things like “digital,” “social” and “viral.” Is he in need of a “rebranding,” or does he just have a “low joy ceiling,?” Maybe pursuing happiness is a fool’s errand? Maybe, after 44 years on this ludicrous planet, settling for happyish is the best one can expect.

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Showtime

RAPPER/ACTOR COLSON BAKER (AKA MACHINE GUN KELLY) ROUNDS OUT THE CAST OF THE NEW SHOWTIME PILOT ROADIES

Rounding out the casting of the new SHOWTIME comedy pilot ROADIES, rapper and actor Colson “MGK” Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly, Beyond The Lights) is set to star in the role of “Jesse,” Kelly Ann’s (Imogen Poots) big hearted twin brother, who thrives around guitars and espresso machines. ROADIES follows the day-to-day life of a successful rock tour as seen through the eyes of music’s unsung heroes – the crew members who get the show on the road. Luke Wilson (Old School, The Royal Tenenbaums), five-time Emmy Award nominee Christina Hendricks (Mad Men),Imogen Poots (The Look of Love), Rafe Spall (One Day), Peter Cambor (NCIS: Los Angeles) and Academy Award nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) were previously announced as stars of the ensemble cast. The one-hour comedy pilot will begin production in Vancouver later this week.

ROADIES follows a hot-ticket tour, but with a simple twist: the band is in the background and the roadies take the spotlight. It’s an inside look at the reckless, romantic, funny and often poignant lives of a committed group of characters who live for music and the de facto family they’ve formed along the way. Oscar winner Cameron Crowe wrote and will direct and executive produce the pilot (for a potential series). Emmy and Tony nominee Winnie Holzman (My So-Called Life, Wicked, Huge), will executive produce and serve as showrunner, along with executive producers Emmy winners J.J. Abrams (Lost, Fringe, Person of Interest) and Bryan Burk (Lost, Fringe, Person of Interest). Kathy Lingg (Person of Interest, Fringe) is co-executive producer. ROADIESis produced by Bad Robot Productions, Vinyl Films and Dooley & Company Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television.

Rapper and actor Colson “MGK” Baker (aka Machine Gun Kelly) made his feature film debut on the big screen in November 2014 in the musical-themed drama Beyond The Lights. He will next appear in the horror film Viral, and the long-awaiting sequel to the Cannes and Sundance Film Festival cult-hit SLC Punk entitled Punk Is Dead. Bakerburst onto the music scene in 2004, and was nicknamed Machine Gun Kelly (or MGK by his fans) because of his rapid-fire delivery. He released his first mixtape “Stamp of Approval” in 2006 and built a loyal fan base performing at local Cleveland venues. MGK became the first rapper in history to win the talent show at New York’s famed Apollo Theater. He secured a record deal with Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope Records through Sean Combs’ Bad Boy Records imprint in 2011. That year, his songs “Invincible” and “Wild Boy,” featuring Atlanta rapper Waka Flocka Flame, opened the door to more exposure, and MTV selected him as the Hottest Breakthrough MC of 2011. “Wild Boy” would go on to be certified Platinum. “Invincible” would be certified Gold, and became the Cleveland Cavaliers’ theme song for the 2012-2013 season.

In 2012, MGK released his first official album via Bad Boy/Interscope entitled Lace Up. The album debuted at number two on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop album chart, and MTV awarded MGK its Breaking Woodie Award for 2012. He also garnered an MTV European Music Award for Next Artist to Go Global. In 2013, he was also honored withMTV’s fan-selected Woodie of the Year Award. His tour schedule included opening for Tech N9Ne on his marathon Hostile Takeover Tour, where they criss-crossed the United States performing ninety cities in ninety-nine days, the Warped Tour, Rick Ross’s MMG Tour with Meek Mill and Wale, and finally his own headlining Lace Up tour hitting Europe and Canada. MGK is currently recording his sophomore album, slated for release in Spring 2015. Last week, he dropped his first single entitled “Til I Die” which debuted on the iTunes Hip-Hop/Rap sales chart in the Top Ten with the corresponding video attracting half a million views within the first 3 days.

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Showtime