‘Homeland’ season 4: Premiere, second episode to air back-to-back

Is Showtime making “Homeland” into a mini-movie? Part of the latest announcement makes us wonder.

The network confirmed on Monday that their upcoming season 4 premiere will be followed immediately by the second episode. This is something new for the show, and it’s an obvious sign that there is a lot of confidence that this will be the comeback season that Claire Danes and company need as season 3 was all over the place creatively.

In addition to this news, Showtime has also confirmed that their new drama “The Affair” is going to launch the following week on Sunday, October 12, which is earlier than previously slated.

Speaking about this update in a statement today, Showtime Executive Vice President Gary Levine said the following:

“[There now] is such strong anticipation for the start of Season 4 that we wanted to give Homeland fans an extra generous helping of Carrie and company … [As soon as] we decided to premiere Homeland with a double episode, it made sense to use the momentum of that event to launch our newest series, The Affair, the very next week.”

In the end, we’ll see if this move is one that pays off or not, but we like the idea of ensuring that both of your series get as much time to shine as possible. We also like the move to premiere “Homeland” on October 5 rather than September 29, that way it is not wedged against all the Sunday-night premieres on broadcast TV. Hopefully, viewers can see those, realize they are not as good by and large as “Homeland,” and return to Showtime for more.

Do you think a two-hour premiere is good news, or a little too much of a good thing? Let us know with a comment below, and head over here for some of the latest “Homeland” scoop! Also, sign up to get other great TV updates on all we cover via our official newsletter.

Photo: Showtime