Showtime is bringing back awards darling House of Lies.
The cable network announced Tuesday that its Don Cheadle comedy will return for a fifth season in 2016.
The renewal, which network president David Nevins alluded to at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in January, is for 10 half-hour episodes — down two from the show's standard 12-episode runs. It's unclear if season five of the comedy will be its last.
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"When you have a gifted acting ensemble led by Don Cheadle and smart, acerbic writing led by showrunner Matthew Carnahan, you expect something special, and House of Lies delivers for us each season,” Showtime exec vp original programming Gary Levine said of the series that also stars Kristen Bell, Ben Schwartz and Josh Lawson.
In its fourth season, which concluded Sunday, House of Lies averaged 583,000 total viewers — off slightly year-over-year. But what the series may lack in same-day viewers, it makes up for as a sturdy performer both on DVR and during awards season, where Cheadle has earned three Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.
Of Showtime's scripted comedy roster, only Episodes is awaiting a renewal — with Nevins also indicating in January that he expected the Matt LeBlanc starrer to return for a fifth season.
House of Lies joins previously renewed Shameless — which again will compete as a comedy at the Emmys — in the pay-cable network's lineup, alongside the upcoming debut of Steve Coogan entry Happyish and the newly ordered Andrew Dice Clay half-hour Dice, with the latter due in 2016. Veteran Nurse Jackie will sign off after its upcoming seventh and final season.
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