Few things are ever certain when it comes to shows' futures on television, and most shows aren't lucky enough to score renewals for multiple seasons at once a la The Big Bang Theory and This Is Us. Fortunately, we have some very good news for fans of Showtime's Shameless. The series has already been renewed for Season 9. We're in for more of the Gallaghers.
The renewal announcement comes only days after the Season 8 premiere on Showtime, which is a sign that Showtime still has a great deal of faith in the series. Of course, the numbers for the Season 8 premiere are quite encouraging. The first episode of the eighth season delivered 50% year-over-year in the ratings, which is quite a feat for a series that has been on the air for so long. Most shows experience drops in viewership and ratings as the years pass, even if the numbers are still impressive. The Shameless audience continues to grow, and Showtime will likely keep it going for as long as the stories continue and the actors remain on board.
In addition to the 50% bump in ratings over the Season 7 premiere, the Season 8 premiere was the highest-rated Shameless premiere since way back in Season 3. The show is clearly still going strong. The seventh season last fall was the biggest to date. Notably, Shameless also draws a younger audience than the rest of the shows on Showtime's programming slate, making it quite valuable to the network. Season 9 will commence production at some point in 2018.
Showtime has not yet announced how many episodes will be produced for Season 8 of Shameless, but the odds are pretty good that the show scored an order of 12 episodes. The first eight seasons were all ordered for a dozen episodes, and it stands to reason that Showtime will continue the trend for Season 9. As only one episode of Season 8 has aired so far, we can't predict who will return and what will happen in Season 9.
The Gallaghers are on a relatively rare upswing in the beginning of Season 8, as Frank decides the time is right to leave drugs behind and become an asset to society. Fiona's success as a landlord may be causing difficulties for others, which will mean some difficult decisions for her. Lip isn't having the easiest time giving things up to remain sober. For his part, Ian is still after Trevor and is willing to take up a cause to try and win him. The other characters have messes of money and balance of their own to deal with, and the show seems poised to deliver as much humor and drama as we've come to expect out of Shameless.
You can catch new episodes of Shameless on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Showtime. For all the shows that won't be back on the airwaves, take a look at our breakdown of all the 2017 TV cancellations so far.
