“Episodes” is likely to end after it’s upcoming fifth season, according to Showtime.
“It’s a real possibility,” network programming president Gary Levine said Tuesday during a Television Critics Association panel. “We will wait to see whether white smoke or black smoke comes out of the chimney,” he added, referring to the Sistine Chapel’s method of signaling the election of a new pope.
“Episodes” was renewed in July for a fifth season. The series is executive produced by creators David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik.
Star Matt LeBlanc told TheWrap in August that the series would end after its fifth season.
“We’re going to do one more,” he said. “Back to work in April. I think that may be the end of it. No one’s contract is past that.”
LeBlanc did leave the door open for the show to continue beyond Season 5 — but not wide open.
“Probably, if David and Jeffrey wanted to do more,” he said. “It feels like five years is the right number for that show. But if they wanted to do more, and the network and the cast — it’s hard to keep a cast together for nine episodes every year and a half, because it’s not the kind of money that someone can live on. I can live on it, sure, but actors want to work more than that.
“You can’t really ask someone for exclusivity for that amount of episodes spread out that far. So there’s a lot of hurdles to making the show. But we get it done.”