Showtime has decided to plan out its entire year of original programming at once. Six dramas and four comedies will air throughout the entire year, including the third season of Homeland and season 8 of Dexter, plus the series premieres of new dramas Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex and the final season of The Big C.
The biggest change to Showtime’s schedule is that Dexter season 8 will premiere in the summer. Every other season of the show has premiered in the fall (September or October), but the new season will debut Sunday, June 30. It’s unclear as of now whether this will be the final season, though Showtime’s president announced at the Television Critics Association winter press tour that an announcement would be made prior to the premiere.
Dexter will be paired with the new Liev Schreiber drama Ray Donovan about a fixer in Los Angeles. Homeland‘s third season (premiering in September) will be paired with new period drama Masters of Sex. Showtime is obviously trying to grow its dramatic line-up by splitting up its two highest-rated shows (Dexter and Homeland) and using them to launch the new programs.
Watch Trailers for Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex>>
In addition, Nurse Jackie and The Borgias will air Sundays starting in April while cancer comedy The Big C moves to Mondays in April for its four-part final season.
Showtime has also picked up a new drama series called Penny Dreadful which will begin production in late 2013. It comes from the writer and director of the James Bond hit Skyfall, Oscar nominees John Logan and Sam Mendes. The show will weave together the origin stories of several iconic horror characters from classic literature in Victorian England, including Dr. Frankenstein and his monster, Dorian Gray and characters from Dracula. It sounds a bit like Once Upon a Time, only with characters from horror stories instead of fairy tales.
Here’s a complete list of Showtime’s 2013 premieres.
Sunday, January 13
9pm: Shameless season 3
10pm: House of Lies season 2
10:30pm: Californication season 6
Monday, February 11
11pm: Inside Comedy season 2
Sunday, April 14
9pm: Nurse Jackie season 5
10pm: The Borgias season 3
Monday, April 29
10pm: The Big C final season
Sunday, June 30
9pm: Dexter season 8
10pm: Ray Donovan series premiere
Sunday, September 29
9pm: Homeland season 3
10pm: Masters of Sex series premiere
(Image courtesy of Showtime)
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John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
