Showtime Renews Tudors

LOS ANGELES, April 17: Just a few weeks since its
launch, Showtime’s The Tudors has been renewed for a
second season, as has This American Life.

Showtime has ordered a further 10 episodes of the
critically acclaimed The Tudors, which has delivered
record ratings for the network and was recently picked up by the BBC in a deal
with Sony Pictures Television International. Production on the second season is
due to begin in Dublin this spring. Announcing the renewal, entertainment
president Robert Greenblatt noted: “Writer/creator Michael Hirst has done a
masterful job turning history into relevant and entertaining drama; this cast
is incredibly talented; and the production value is feature-film quality. The
cast, headed (or should I say be-headed) by the mesmerizing Jonathan Rhys
Meyers, has been enthusiastically received by critics, audiences are becoming
addicted and it's right on brand for Showtime. Long live the king, albeit a
trimmer, sexier incarnation than we've seen before."

This American Life,
the televised version of Ira Glass' acclaimed Chicago Public Radio series, will
begin production on six episodes later this year for a 2008 premiere. "Ira
Glass is a visionary and This American Life
is an American institution," said Greenblatt. "I'm very proud that
Showtime will remain the television home of this show and this unique
storyteller."

Additionally, the network has greenlit five
episodes of a new sketch comedy series from Tracey Ullman, tentatively titled State
Of The Union.