Showtime Renews Californication

LOS ANGELES, September 10: Showtime has ordered 12 new
half-hour episodes of its hit comedy series Californication, slated for premiere in summer 2008.

Californication centers
on novelist Hank Moody, played by David Duchovny (The X-Files), whose obsession with telling the truth and self-destructive
behavior—drinking, drugs and relationships—both destroy and enrich
his career. The series is created and executive produced by Tom Kapinos (Dawson’s
Creek). Duchovny and Scott Winant (Huff), serve as executive producers, with Melanie Greene
serving as co-executive producer.

The first season is currently averaging nearly two million
viewers per week, which is the best season one average weekly performance the
network has seen since 2004. Season one will continue to air through October on
Mondays in the 10:30 p.m. slot, with the season-two premiere tentatively slated
for summer 2008.

"Californication
is a home run for us,” said Robert Greenblatt, the president of Showtime. “We
haven't launched a first-year show this strongly out of the gate before, and it
caps an extraordinary 12 months that's included the launch of Dexter, The Tudors, Brotherhood, and This
American Life. It's just another great
notch in our proverbial bedpost,” he jokes.

The series is represented internationally by CBS Paramount
International Television, which has sold season one to Five in the U.K. and
Warner Channel in Latin America, among others.