Showtime unveils ‘Shameless’ season 5, ‘House of Lies’ season 4 teasers

Last night at the conclusion of their seasons, Showtime decided to upload some of the first “teasers” for the future editions of both “House of Lies” and “Shameless.” By “teasers,” we really just mean “clips that don’t have any relevant content to cling on to.”

Given that there are not even scripts written for these new episodes yet, there really isn’t anything to show other than these little highlight clips. Still, we find the “House of Lies” one to be a little more interesting than the other, thanks to the fact that it says “down, but not out.” That is a sign that the producers and Showtime both probably have zero intention of making the Marty Kaan character miserable forever. That’s hardly a surprise, but we do always worry about Showtime and decisions after the network tried to play such a big role in the creative direction of the “Dexter” finale.

As for “Shameless,” we’re mostly trying to process the fact that Justin Chatwin made a surprising return in the season 4 finale … after being presumed dead. While this is an easy suggestion that he’ll have some role on the show next year, it’s not a firm guarantee by any means that he is going to come back full-time next year, but it’s still something to be excited about.

Both of these shows have become anchors in the Showtime lineup, and while neither one of them are something that gets a tremendous amount of headlines, they’re solid contributors that hold up well in a time period typically dominated by “The Walking Dead.” Granted, the next Showtime series will have to deal with the monster known as “Game of Thrones,” but at least its ratings are not as massive.