Showtime’s ‘Weeds’ To Be Cancelled

Multiple news outlets are reporting that Showtime has cancelled their popular TV show Weeds after eight seasons.

Showtime entertainment president David Nevins told Entertainment Weekly, “There were two shows, Weeds and Dexter, that really got Showtime taken seriously for cutting-edge original programming.”

Weeds premiered back in 2005 and was a near immediate success. The show stars Mary-Louise Parker and was is created by Emmy Award winner Jenji Kohan. The edgy drama/comedy touched on very adult topics, drugs, sex, and suburbia. The series’ star, Mary-Louise Parker won a Golden Globe for her performance as Nancy Botwin, a former suburban widow who turned to selling marijuana to make ends meet and has bloomed into a full-fledged queenpin.

When the show debuted it helped earn Showtime’s highest ratings. The debut of the fifth season had 1.3 million viewers, but rapidly declined as the season continued. The show’s finale for season 7 saw a decrease of almost 50% in viewers since the season 5 debut episode.

The final season will begin Sunday, July 1st at 10 p.m. ET/PT. It is expected that the final series will quickly wrap up the assassination attempt cliffhanger from last season, before returning the story to the suburbs. The writer, Jenji Kohan, told Entertainment Weekly “We wrack our brains every year for crazy cliffhangers and we’re trying to figure out how to top ourselves.” She’s admitted that she’s sad about the show ending but added “I’m so proud of what we do here and that it’s about a strong woman lead who’s really flawed.”