A year ago, Yellowjackets got an early Season 2 renewal five episodes into its freshman run. The Showtime series delivered on the vote of confidence with seven Emmy nominations and more than 5 million weekly viewers. Now it’s getting an even earlier Season 3 renewal: More than three months ahead of Yellowjackets’ March 26 Season 2 premiere, the network has picked up a new installment of the show from creators/executive producers/co-showrunners Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson, exec producer/co-showrunner Jonathan Lisco, eOne and Drew Comins’ studio-based Creative Engine.
There was a practical rationale behind the timing of the renewals, which come exactly a year apart (the Season 2 pickup was announced December 16, 2021). I hear they were tied to the yearly deadline for picking up the cast’s options, which are up in mid-December.
But it also makes a statement about Showtime’s programming strategy as the first renewal after the network moved under the purview of Chris McCarthy.
“With Yellowjackets’ runaway success in Season 1 and the pent-up anticipation for Season 2, we wanted to maximize the momentum by fast-tracking Season 3 now,” said McCarthy, President/CEO, Showtime and Paramount Media Networks. “The show’s ambition is only exceeded by its execution, and I thank the incredible creative team behind it, including Ashley, Bart, Jonathan, eOne and the Showtime team, for turning this into such a success.”
The early renewal “demonstrates our strong commitment to the show and its ability to continue to grow as well as how it fits clearly within a Showtime brand,” McCarthy added.
He proceeded to shed light on his vision for the Showtime brand going forward and the content plans around it. McCarthy’s first pickup move after taking over the premium network was to bring in the MTV Entertainment Studios-produced country drama limited series George and Tammy, which had become a free agent after Spectrum pulled away from scripted originals.
“As we head into 2023 and beyond, our plan is to lean into Showtime’s strengths and focus on three key areas that have defined the brand. Complex and subversive antiheroes like Dexter and Yellowjackets, powerful high-stakes worlds like Homeland and Billions, and unconventional cultural takes like The L Word and The Chi – all with an eye towards making the biggest hits possible and building them into hit franchises as we have done very successfully across the company” McCarthy said.
“From Yellowstone to South Park and to our global unscripted formats, these franchises have helped to drive Paramount+ to the fastest-growing streaming service in the U.S. two years in a row, and now we are excited to bring this franchise thinking into the great set of hit series that have defined Showtime.”
As Paramount Global mulls Showtime’s future as a stand-alone service, its series’ streaming performance is increasingly important. Yellowjackets delivered on that front too, becoming the second most-streamed series in Showtime history behind Dexter: New Blood.
McCarthy’s comments also bode well for The L Word: Generation Q which is now airing its third season.
He also echoed recent comments by Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish about the company’s plans for Showtime, saying he wanted “to make it clear that the Showtime brand still matters, and the slate is going to matter even more.” The label also will “lean into franchises,” Bakish added. “We have not announced anything. But you will see that as we move into 2023.”