“Shameless” got renewed for Season 9 because people have finally realized this is the greatest show on TV
Phew. Just a few days after Shameless fans tuned in for the show’s Season 8 premiere, Showtime has announced Shameless Season 9 is a go.
Shameless is Showtime’s longest-running and highest-rated show, and we totally get it. For all their dysfunction, the members of the Gallagher family are endlessly watchable. Nearly 2 million people caught the November 5th premiere live or the day of its airing, and last year the show averaged 6.5 million viewers — and just, wow.
According to Showtime president and CEO David Nevins, it’s Shameless’ strong characters and dark comedy that’s kept it so popular:
“As challenging as it can be for any show simply to maintain viewers in the current TV landscape, Shameless is adding them in droves, but it’s no mystery why. "The series’ reputation for rich and resonant characters and for deep — and deeply twisted — comedy has drawn not only faithful longtime viewers, but a steadily growing audience. And creatively, the season that kicked off this past Sunday is stronger than ever.
Guess we had a little too much fun this past premiere…
'Cause we've confirmed there will be another!
SEASON 9 🙌#Shameless #Showtime pic.twitter.com/31nNFBOGAQ— Shameless on Showtime (@SHO_Shameless) November 8, 2017
So far, there’s been no mention of Season 9 being the show’s last, but it appears it’s a possibility. Star William H. Macy told Entertainment Weekly that while he’d originally thought the show would wrap up after Season 7, he now predicts the cast and creators have at least one more season in them, maybe two. Showrunner John Wells said the creative team would probably defer to the actors to make that call.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbPl-kbARyf
The Gallaghers have definitely matured in their eight seasons (Building owner Fiona? Lip the sober caregiver?) and we’ve seen the IRL actors grow, too (i.e. Emmy Rossum fighting for equal pay like a BOSS). But are we ready to leave the family and their issues behind after next season? We’ll have to wait and see…but honestly, we don’t think we’ll ever be ready to leave them.
