SHAMELESS Returns to Showtime January 2012, WEEDS Back for Season 8?

SHOWTIME has just announced that the second season of Shamless will premiere on January 8 at 9PM. SHAMELESS stars William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum and Joan Cusack. SHAMELESS is SHOWTIME's best performing freshman drama series in the past seven years.

From John Wells (ER, The West Wing, Southland) and Paul Abbott (State of Play, Touching Evil) , SHAMELESS is based on the long-running hit UK series and stars Emmy(R) Award winner and Oscar(R) nominee William H. Macy (Fargo, Pleasantville, The Cooler) and Emmy Rossum (The Phantom of the Opera, Mystic River). Macy plays a far-from-stellar working class patriarch of an unconventional Chicago brood of six motley kids (headed by eldest sibling Rossum) who keep the home afloat while he's out drinking and carousing.

SHAMELESS is from Bonanza Productions Inc. in association with John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. Television. Wells and Abbott are executive producers; Andrew Stearn (The West Wing, Southland) also serves as executive producer.

Additionally according to Zap2it.com, contrary to previous reports, WEEDS might be back for an additional season. Showtime Entertainment president David Nevins recently said: "It's been an interesting year, and I'm excited for people to see where it goes by the end of the season as all the stories coalesce. I haven't picked it up yet, but I'm optimistic."