SHOWTIME will be available to more than 71 million households during a Free Preview Weekend from Friday August 31 through Monday, September 3. Viewers nationwide will be able to sample the network’s award-winning programming on SHOWTIME, SHOWTIME On Demand®, SHOWTIME ANYTIME® and select distributors’ TV Everywhere portals. The Free Preview weekend will include early sampling of the series premiere of the new half-hour comedy KIDDING, starring Golden Globe winner Jim Carrey in his first series regular role in more than two decades. SHOWTIME will also air full-season marathons of SHAMELESS ahead of the season nine premiere on Sunday, September 9 at 9 p.m. The fourth, fifth and sixth seasons of SHAMELESS will air on back-to-back days starting on Saturday, September 1 through Monday, September 3.
Free Preview Weekend viewers will have access to current and past episodes of critically acclaimed SHOWTIME original series including HOMELAND, SHAMELESS, RAY DONOVAN, WHO IS AMERICA?, THE CHI, SMILF, THE AFFAIR and THE CIRCUS, all available on SHOWTIME ON DEMAND and SHOWTIME ANYTIME. Viewers can also catch up on the recent SHOWTIME Emmy® nominated series ahead of the Primetime awards, including the limited series PATRICK MELROSE and TWIN PEAKS and the docuseries THE FOURTH ESTATE. The network will also air over 300 feature films available on SHOWTIME On Demand and SHOWTIME ANYTIME, including Baby Driver, Patriots Day, Captain Fantastic and The Edge of Seventeen. Documentary programming will include the SHOWTIME films LYNYRD SKYNYRD: IF I LEAVE HERE TOMORROW, ERIC CLAPTON: LIFE IN 12 BARS, LOVE MEANS ZERO and WHITNEY. “CAN I BE ME.” For additional details and a full schedule of programming, go to SHO.com/freepreview.
KIDDING centers on Jeff, aka Mr. Pickles (Carrey), an icon of children’s television and a beacon of kindness and wisdom to America’s impressionable young minds and the parents who grew up with him. But when this beloved personality’s family begins to implode, Jeff finds no fairytale, fable or puppet will guide him through this crisis, which advances faster than his means to cope. The result: A kind man in a cruel world faces a slow leak of sanity as hilarious as it is heartbreaking. The series also stars Oscar®, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon), Judy Greer (Married), Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Catherine Keener (Get Out), Cole Allen and Juliet Morris. KIDDING reunites Jim Carrey with Oscar winner Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), who is directing several episodes and serves as executive producer. Throughout the season, Jeff begins to push back against the limits of the well-oiled machine that is “Mr. Pickles’ Puppet Time,” and of his executive producer, Seb (Langella). Seb fears Jeff’s mental state could ruin the branding empire they’ve built, and thus begins preparing the show for a life after Jeff, while Deirdre (Keener), the head puppet maker, grapples with her own professional and personal issues, including with her daughter, played by Morris. Greer stars as Jeff’s estranged wife, and their son is played by Allen. Guest stars include Justin Kirk (WEEDS), Ginger Gonzaga (I’M DYING UP HERE) and Tara Lipinski. KIDDING is executive produced by Holstein, who wrote multiple episodes and serves as showrunner. In addition, KIDDING is executive produced by Carrey, Michael Aguilar (I’M DYING UP HERE), Roberto Benabib (WEEDS), Raffi Adlan (The Green Hornet), Emmy nominee Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) and Jim Garavente (Bad Words). The first episode of KIDDING will be available during the Free Preview Weekend on SHOWTIME ON DEMAND and SHOWTIME ANYTIME.
The Free Preview Weekend is available on both SD and HD feeds to digital subscribers of participating providers only. Select providers will offer the Free Preview via SHOWTIME ON DEMAND and SHOWTIME ANYTIME. The preview will be available from a number of distributors including AT&T U-verse, Comcast’s Xfinity TV, Cox Communications, DIRECTV, Dish, Verizon Fios, Altice USA (Optimum and Suddenlink), Mediacom, Frontier Communications, and Sling TV, among others. Available platforms will vary by participating distributor. Previews may contain PG, PG-13, TV-14, TVMA and R-rated programming.
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX®, and also offers SHOWTIME ON DEMAND®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND and FLIX ON DEMAND®, and the network’s authentication service SHOWTIME ANYTIME®. Showtime Digital Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of SNI, operates the stand-alone streaming service SHOWTIME®. SHOWTIME is currently available to subscribers via cable, DBS and telco providers, and as a stand-alone streaming service through Amazon, Apple®, Google, LG Smart TVs, Oculus Go, Roku®, Samsung and Xbox One. Consumers can also subscribe to SHOWTIME via Amazon’s Prime Video Channels, DirecTV Now, FuboTV, Hulu, Sling TV, Sony PlayStation™ Vue, and YouTube TV. Viewers can also watch on computers at Showtime.com. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel™, and offers Smithsonian Earth™ through SN Digital LLC. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV. For more information, go to www.SHO.com.