Showtime Renews ‘United States of Tara’

Showtime has given its latest original series, the multiple-personality comedy United States of Tara, a second season. The 12-episode order comes after just four outings for the newbie during its current rookie season.

With talented folks like star Toni Collette, executive producer Steven Spielberg, and creator Diablo Cody associated with it, it was kind of inevitable the show would attract a substantial number of viewers. I know I’m not surprised United States has struck a chord among viewers who appreciate a good laugh and quality programming.

Says Showtime President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt: “It has been pure pleasure working with Diablo Cody, Toni Collette, Steven Spielberg and everyone at Dreamworks on UNITED STATES OF TARA. This is a perfect fit for our premium brand and we’re thrilled that critics and audiences have responded to this groundbreaking show so well. I look forward to many more alternate personalities emerging from this unique series.”

Yeah — it’s the standard drill network executives offer in press releases about this kind of news, but the man is definitely telling the truth when it comes to the response from both critics and fans. United States of Tara not only attracted Showtime’s largest audience since 2004 during its premiere week, drawing 2.67 million pairs of eyeballs, but the comedy also performed better than its fellow network staples Californication, Dexter, The Tudors, and Weeds did during their respective premiere weeks.

The series has also averaged an impressive 2.1 million viewers each week for all television broadcasts, including repeats, which surpasses the ratings Dexter and Weeds earned during their first seasons, as well. Clearly, Showtime has another hit on its hands, so the renewal is definitely deserved.

Catch United States of Tara Sundays on Showtime at 10pm EST.