Why was Homeland season 8 delayed? Showtime exec explains

Why was Homeland season 8 delayed over on Showtime? Early today, it was revealed that new episodes are going to air in February — and while it was explained that the delay was due to production reasons, we have a little more insight on that now.

Speaking (via Deadline) while at the TCA Summer Press Tour event, Showtime’s President of Entertainment Gary Levine noted that this is a show that needs proper time and nourishment in order to get it to the perfect place with the nature of its complicated filming process:

“Homeland is an ambitious series, and especially in its final season … (Showrunner) Alex (Gansa) wants to go out proudly, and he’s going to. And that has involved production in multiple countries, and, at times, in places that have some issues just takes time.

“There have been no missteps here. It’s been a relatively smooth process, but a very ambitious production schedule that has just taken more time than we hoped it would. And one of the things we do at Showtime is we’d rather have it good than fast.  And that’s what’s going to happen when Homeland premieres in February.”

Filming for Homeland season 8 is taking place in a wide array of locations. There are parts that are shot in the United States, parts overseas in Morocco, and also in some secret locations. This is one of the most ambitious seasons of the show that we’ve seen — heck, it may be one of the most ambitious seasons that we’ve seen for any show. There’s something that we love about the way in which the network is committing to the story that we have, and we really just have to hope that the story of Carrie and Saul lives up to the ambition that is being set up here with production. While not every season has been stellar note for note, the best of Homeland of the past seven years stands out as some of the best TV that we’ve had a chance to see, period.