TCA 2010: Showtime Orders 'The Borgias,' 'Episodes'

Premium cable network announces 'Tudors' follow up, screens clip of Matt LeBlanc comedy

By Melissa Grego -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/9/2010 5:02:25 PM

TCA: Complete Coverage of the Winter Press Tour
Showtime announced two new series orders at the Television Critics Association press tour Jan. 9 in Pasadena, Calif. The pay-TV network will follow up its hit dynasty drama The Tudors with another, The Borgias, said Showtime Networks President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt, and has picked up new comedy series Episodes, starring Matt LeBlanc.
The network has ordered 10 episodes of The Borgias, about the infamous Italian Renaissance clan. It is slated to go into production this spring for a 2011 debut.
Jeremy Irons stars as the patriarch in the project; Neil Jordan will create and executive produce. Michael Hirst, the creative force behind The Tudors, will write and executive produce. Much like The Tudors, The Borgias will be a Canadian-European Treaty co-production.
Greenblatt also screened a teaser clip for Episodes, an inside-Hollywood comedy. He said 10 episodes of this series also have been ordered. It follows the bungled process of a fictional hit show from abroad being adapted in the U.S, where LeBlanc is cast as the star.