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Showtime has renewed dark comedy series Nurse Jackie for a fourth season. Meanwhile, it’s the end of the road for fellow comedy United States of Tara, which is being canceled after three seasons. Additionally, Showtime’s drama The Borgias, which has already been renewed for a second season, wrapped its freshman run last night.
Nurse Jackie, which earned star Edie Falco an Emmy last year, is created, written and executive produced by Liz Brixius and Linda Wallem, with Richie Jackson also executive producing. While not a runaway hit, the series has averaged 762,000 viewers on Monday night and 2.8 million weekly viewers so far this season. (For comparison, Season 4 of Showtime’s Californication averaged 2.4 million weekly viewers. The freshman season of breakout comedy The Big C drew 3.5 million)
Tara, which also won star Toni Collette an Emmy, has been sliding in the ratings, fueling speculation over the past couple of months that its current third season will be its last. Season to date, the series has averaged 326,000 viewers in its Monday 10:30 PM slot, down from 558,000 for Season 2. Its weekly viewership has dropped from 2.7 million last season to 1.9 million. With 3.3 million weekly viewers, The Borgias‘ first season outperformed the highest-rated season of The Tudors by 20%. In its season finale last night, The Borgias drew 810,000 viewers at 10 PM and 1.12 million viewers for the night.
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i hope USOT doesnt end in a cliff-hanger
!
I have a feeling it will, only because I am pretty sure that the season is already finished filming.
Nurse Jackie is great. It is my weekly Showtime drug of choice.
Tara was also well done, but the storyline is hard to maintain over several seasons. The show deserves kudos for its unique story approach and solid performances.
Hooray for Nurse Jackie!
Edie Falco certainly earned her stripes in “The Sopranos”; and she obviously deserved her Emmy in Nurse Jackie. Edie, I don’t know how you and your co-stars do it, but I’m glad you on for another season. Your writers are right on que. I did enjoy “United States Of Tara”; but I guess its run its course, how many more charcters can we bring on. I was in EMS for almost 10 years in Vermont and I did some theatre in High School; I would jump at the chance to work along side Edie Falco. So, my family is jumping for joy that “Nurse Jackie” will be returning again, and if you need an extra, let me know Tye J. Bletz (16 Grape St – Fair Have, VT 05763). Good Luck!
United States of Tara– all those Personalities in one woman’s head — I gave that show a chance and it went in circles too long. Not sorry to see it go.
Wow. That’s really unfortunate. “Tara” is a much better show than “Nurse Jackie.”
Glad to hear JACKIE picked up. Edie and the rest of the cast are wonderful.
Very disappointed TARA cancelled. Yes, the writing and direction has been unfocused…and this season has had a noticably ridiculous amount of unnecessary F-bombs which felt lazy and became distracting rather than funny/edgy. However, Toni Collette has been consistently brilliant and the addition of Eddie Izzard was inspired. Will truly miss the show and was happy to spend time with those characters.
Last year, I probably would have said that it was probably the best decision to cancel Tara. This year however I feel different. Season of United States Of Tara has been pretty great and it feels like the writers are finally heading into the right direction. A 4-season-run would have been perfect for Tara IMO. I hope Rosemarie Dewitt and Brie Larson find another good job soon.
As for Nurse Jackie, I enjoy the show throughout its first two seasons, but the lack of overall progress has made me enjoy this season MUCH LESS.
This can’t be truuuue!! I adore UST! I mean, I watched Nurse Jackie for about a season and a half but it just didn’t hold me like Tara.. Tara was so different and Toni Collette is AMAZING! Sad day
I AGREE! i mean what can be done to get it back on or atleast make it in a dvd season to buy!
Sorry to hear about Tara’s cancellation. This season has been really good, closer to the first season than the mediocre season 2. Bad timing on the whole Japanese earthquake thing, but shot and edited well before it happened.
Showtime should spin off Eve Best into her own show.
She’s the best part of Nurse Jackie!
right … and if they don’t offer her a show they should give her more screen time on Nurse Jackie … i’m not interested in getting to know the other characters in depth … stick to the knitting …
I say this as a Diablo Cody fan: I think she’s a great writing talent who perhaps found too much success too soon. Her voice is incredible and amazing, and she creates characters with depth (which is why she absolutely deserved the Oscar for Juno), but she has GOT to sharpen her storytelling skills.
Diablo needs to learn about structure and plot if she wants to continue to succeed as a writer, and I’m fearful Hollywood won’t give her the chance to learn before they declare her a one-trick pony and stop hiring her.
I sincerely hope not!
This breaks my heart! USoT will be missed.
Um, merrit wever is the best part of nurse jackie, hands down!
I can’t believe this. I love TARA! I love JACKIE as well, but assumed both were safe. I don’t get Showtime so I have been buying both when they come out on DVD. Wish another network, maybe HBO or Starz, would pick it up.
too bad on the tara cancellation. Such a unique show in a world of copycats and more of the same.
i love united states of tara but it has run its course. seasons 1 and 2 were great but this season is all questions, no answers and feels pretty direction-less. the writing and acting are great but i’m losing interest. i just hope they wrap up some loose ends!
The real question is…will Gigolos be back for a sesaon two?
Good move from Showtime. United Staets of Tara is unwatchable since the 2nd Season. It’s kind of a trend for Showtime dramedy shows to have decent 1st seasons and then going downhill. Californication, Weeds, all the same and hopefully cancelled soon. Stay with drama Showtime, Dexter, Shameless, the Borgias keep doing these
While I’m sure it was an unintentional omission, I think it’s important to note that NURSE JACKIE was co-created by Evan Dunsky. Liz Brixius and Linda Wallem should be applauded for their contributions to the show (running a show isn’t easy, and neither is keeping the stories and characterizations fresh, which they have), I read Mr. Dunsky’s original version of the script (as well as viewed the final aired pilot that was shot after Ms. Brixius & Ms. Wallem came aboard), and don’t understand why he didn’t retain sole ‘created by’ credit. Aside from a few reworked scenes and dialogue changes designed to soften the tone and a MAD MEN-esque twist added to the end (Jackie has a family even though she’s sleeping with a co-worker!), the final aired pilot was the same story and characters Mr. Dunsky originated.
In any case, the exclusion of his name from this article is a reminder how easily a writer’s contributions can be forgotten.
Mr. Dunsky, As the show remains successful, you continue to benfit financially. Stop whining.
Good riddance. That show was worse than awful. It was embarrassing.
NURSE JACKIE was co-created by Evan Dunsky.
US of Tara was unwatchable to most straight guys because it had a latent anger towards straight men. This might be an offshoot of Diablo Cody’s time stripping because most of her work tends to emasculate the male characters. It is no small thing to write a fresh, orginal script like “Juno”, but the common reaction to Ms. Cody is that she is not as smart and clever as she appears to believe she is. Intellectuals are known by their deep thoughts, not their bon mots. The writing felt like the writers wanted to be working on their own shows and not this paycheck.
“United States of Tara-ble”! Zing!
This is a good first step for showtime. Now all they have to do is cancel Nurse Jackie, Episodes, Weeds, Californication, Dexter, Shameless, the Big C and every other original scripted series they air.
Too bad about USoT: It was my favorite SHO series
USOT is a GREAT show. I look forward to seeing it each week. I’m very unhappy to hear it’s canceled. I hope they can end it with class AND closure.
Aww, Godd@mnit. USoT improved significantly in its second season, becoming far more creative and intriguing, while Nurse Jackie has become increasingly repetitive and monotonous.