MTV's "Hard Times" are going to continue. The network has renewed freshman comedy "The Hard Times of R.J. Berger" for a 12 episode second season.
The show, which stars Paul Iacono as a geeky but incredibly well-endowed high-schooler, premiered June 6 following the MTV Movie Awards with an initial order of 12 episodes.
It's the first of several new scripted shows planned for MTV, which has increasingly become known for reality shows.
"We have been so heavily branded as a reality network it will take a beat for our viewers to embrace this new diverse slate on the channel. That's why we are so thrilled by the response to ‘The Hard Times of RJ Berger,’" Tony DiSanto, MTV's president of programming, said in a statement.
Not that MTV is giving up on reality shows. "We are 100 percent committed to scripted programming, and our current reality hits like ‘Teen Mom," ‘If You Really Knew Me’ and, of course, ‘Jersey Shore’, provide an incredibly solid foundation for us to launch scripted series and let them gain traction ... That's key, because whereas reality tends to burn bright and fast, scripted series take time to grow," DiSanto said.
