Showtime Schedules 'Weeds' and 'Episodes' Summer Return Dates

It’s going to be a smokin’ summer on Showtime as it’s scheduled the return date for Weeds and and Episodes for July 1.

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The eighth season of Weeds will open the night at 10 p.m. with the second season of Episodes following at 10:30 p.m.

Weeds, which stars Golden Globe winner Mary-Louise Parker as a suburban housewife who deals marijuana will pick up after last season’s finale that found (spoiler alert!) a gunman pointing at the family. Season 8 goes into production in Los Angeles with 13 episodes. Created by Jenji Kohan, the series is produced by Lionsgate.

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The long-running series, which co-stars Justin Kirk, Hunter Parrish and Alexander Gould, has earned multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations over the course of its run. Last season averaged roughly 720,000 viewers, according to Nielsen. At the recent TCA press tour, Showtime Entertainment President David Nevins said that the upcoming season could be its last.

Episodes makes it triumphant nine-episode return after star Matt Leblanc scored a Globe for portraying a fictional version of himself. It co-stars Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig as married TV writers. It portrays the laborious process of maneuvering a new series in the shark-infested waters of Hollywood. The second season opens up four months after the first season finale as the producing couple’s marriage is on the rocks and the series gets a pickup. The co-production with Showtime and BBC recently wrapped production in L.A. and London. It’s written by Executive Producers David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik.

Episodes' first season premiered to 768,000 viewers following its lead-in, veteran comedy Californication.

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