‘Devious Maids’ season 2 official; Lifetime renews summer hit

The news that “Devious Maids” is coming back for a second season on Lifetime is hardly much of a surprise at all. However, what we are a bit more surprised about now is why in the world it took this long to actually become official.

This was really one of the best things that the network had going for it almost all summer long; despite airing on Sunday night, which is stuffed full of popular shows, it has actually built an audience almost every week, getting to the point where it recent set a season high in total viewers. Any new show these days that builds an audience over time has to be worth keeping; just look at “Breaking Bad,” which was barely on the air the first year, and earlier this week had a massive 2.8 rating in the demo.

So now, it is finally official: The show, from “Desperate Housewives” creator Marc Cherry, will be back for 13 more episodes to air next year. The entire cast at this point appears to be retained, and the renewal at this time does give the show an opportunity to really think about what sort of stories it wants to tell next. We’re always supportive of cable shows receiving early renewals, that way there is more time for them to get to the writers’ room and figure out where they want to go from start to finish. More time, better story.

Now, we just have to wait patiently to see what Lifetime decides for another one of their dramas in “The Client List.” Jennifer Love Hewitt’s series has delayed a decision for a number of reasons the past few months, with the principal one being the debate over how the actress’ real-life pregnancy will be written into the show. We know the network is interested in a renewal, but there is no timetable as to when this could be worked out.

Photo: Lifetime