‘Shameless’ officially renewed for season 8 by Showtime following season 7 finale

While it was pretty clear a few days ago that “Shameless” would be coming back for an eighth season, we’re glad to say that today Showtime made the matter official. The network has confirmed that they have renewed the series, starring William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum, for an eighth season.

As of right now, the only things that are official about this renewal is that the season will once again be for twelve episodes, and that it will start filming in the late spring. This is something that Rossum herself confirmed late last week when she announced that she would be coming back to play Fiona Gallagher for another year. Her contract status was one of the main reasons for the delay in the renewal, as she was seeking a raise that would make her the highest-paid star on the show to compensate for years that she and Macy did not receive equal pay. Terms of her new deal are not available at this time.

“Shameless” remains at this point one of the network’s marquee series, and it showed this fall that it can be plugged into different times of the year and still be successful. We did think that last night’s episode could have functioned as a series finale had it needed to, but we’re glad that this is not ultimately the case.

One thing that is interesting is that in the announcement, Showtime did not make it clear whether or not this would be the final season of the show. This is something that may be thought about further over the coming months, much like it was with “Dexter” entering its eight season. It was only during production that it was finally announced there that the show would be in its final season.

Are you happy to see the news become official? Share now in the comments, and be sure to come back more in the event that you do want to see some other news when it comes to the series. (Photo: Showtime.)