“It’s a fascinating moment in this business,” said David Nevins, president of Showtime Networks, setting the stage for his network’s Executive Session and a day of Showtime TCA Summer panels. “It’s as auspicious and exciting a time since I’ve been here.”

And it’s clear, with the deluge of announcements, that Nevins is comfortable with Showtime’s place in the expanding TV marketplace.

Showtime has transformed its business with its streaming service Showtime Anytime, with subscribers granted access via Apple TV, Roku, Sony Playstation and Hulu, with even more partnerships forthcoming in time for The Affair and Homeland‘s premieres on October 4. They can attract the binger through Hulu, the gamer through Playstation, and the “apper” through Roku, Nevins pointed out.

“We are the only streaming service that offers live streaming of our programming,” Nevins said. This has proven to be one of the app’s most popular attributes.

Showtime has over 23 million subscribers, a number that has “never been higher.” It’s clear the network has their sights set on the non-cable subscribers, a 12-million-plus broadband market Nevins referenced multiple times throughout his discussion on the state of the network.

“We have a lot of room for expansion,” Nevins said.

On the subject of expansion, “Showtime is going global.” The network has made a “groundbreaking deal with Bell Media, [which] brings the Showtime brand in its entirety to Canadian households, and I expect this to be a harbinger for more deals to come,” Nevins said.

Nevins used the summer TCAs to announce several pick-ups and updates on their properties:

Ray Donovan has been picked up for a fourth season.

Masters of Sex has also been picked up for a fourth season.

Homeland returns October 4. The new season is “fresh and sophisticated, and reinforces what has always made Homeland so riveting,” Nevins said. The season analyzes America’s complicated role in global politics, cyberterrorism, and privacy in a world of 24 hour surveillance.

The documentary series Spymasters premieres November 28 on Thanksgiving weekend. Mandy Patinkin narrates the documentary, which weaves interviews with the 12 living directors of the CIA.

The second season of The Affair, which adds two more viewpoints to the proceedings this year, premieres October 4.

Penny Dreadful, as has already been announced, will return for a third season. Showtime and John Logan’s partnership will grow even further, as Showtime has landed an adaptation for Patti Smith’s Just Kids. It will be a limited series written and produced by John Logan and Patti Smith. The project had a fierce bidding war, and Showtime won. “It didn’t hurt that Patti Smith happened to be a die-hard fan of Penny Dreadful,” Nevins said.

The shooting for Twin Peaks starts in September, and the entire new series will indeed be directed by David Lynch, who is also writing and producing. A tweet appeared on screen: “The donut truck is loaded late August. A coffee cup will indeed come through a window.”

Showtime has picked up the pilot for I’m Dying Up Here, a series chronicling the LA comedy scene in the 1970s, executive produced by Jim Carrey, with a pilot directed by 50/50‘s Johnathan Levine.

They’ve also picked up an untitled drama pilot produced by Common and Lena Waithe. The show is described as a coming-of-age story for a young African-American male in the south side of Chicago. Clark Johnson (The Wire, The Shield) will also executive produce and direct the pilot.

On September 8, Showtime will premiere A Season With Notre Dame Football, a weekly series taking the audience from training camp through the entire season. “Nobody has ever had this kind of access before in the world of big time college football,” Nevins said.

Discussion, as one might expect, never drifted far away from the Twin Peaks reboot, and Showtime’s ability to keep David Lynch onboard. Levins described what happened: “I never had any doubts we were gonna get him back. It became clear that it was going to take more than 9 episodes that we originally planned for, [and] originally budgeted for. We had to work out the details and I really wanted to get David to direct the whole thing, and we eventually got through it,” he said. “We’re going to be in great shape, shooting starts in just a few weeks.” When can we expect the show? “I want it as badly and as soon as the biggest fans want it. I’m hoping sometime in 2016,” Nevins said. “The bottomline is I’ll take it when they’re ready with it. I can’t be any clearer [on the time]. I’m hoping sooner rather than later.”

With Twin Peaks returning, would Showtime consider bringing back some of their old favorites, like Dexter or Weeds? “Dexter is the one show I’d think about doing that,” Levins said. “If there’s a willingness to do it, I’d listen. I’d look at Dexter.” Given the promise in the original Twin Peaks of “I’ll see you in 25 years,” Nevins found the ability to “capitalize on that promise…irresistible.”

While clearly excited about the prospect of Twin Peaks, Nevins was cagey about details, refusing to announce casting details, even though he admitted that much of it had been finalized. But he reiterated that David Lynch is the only director for the series.

“He’s directing it as one big long movie, is basically how he’s approaching it,” Nevins said. Originally announced as nine hours, it appears that that is no longer set in stone.

“They’re going to decide. I expect it to be more than nine. It’s open ended,” he said. It’s clear that Lynch is in charge. “He has creative control. He deserves it, and I’m very happy to give it to him,” Nevins said.

Earlier at the TCAs, FX Networks’ John Landgraf stated that there is “too much TV.” When approached with this sentiment, Nevins had his own take on the TV landscape.

“There may be too much good TV, [but] there’s never enough great TV. We’re trying hard to make great TV. There’s a lot going on, there’s a lot of stupid money going in a lot of different directions,” Levins said. “You hear of two-season commitments off of pitches. We’re in expansion mode, but we’re expanding at a rate where we can still do meaningful television.” Levins referenced that Landgraf believed that it’s the brands that will survive, and Levins is comfortable from that standpoint with the brands they’ve created at Showtime.

The age of TV bundles has Levins similarly optimistic. “[It] augers well for our company, because any smaller bundle is going to have to have CBS, which is going to lower the price point for which Showtime is available,” Levins said.

When asked about Showtime’s struggles with comedy, Levins promised, “There’s more to come. There’s a Seth Rogen project that Seth wants to direct that we’re talking about. There’s plenty of stuff to come, and we have three of the six Emmy nom’s in the lead-actor category,” he said. “Comedy is hard. The dramas tend to drive the marketplace is part of it. Dramas tend to be what travels,” Levins said. “Especially in the premium world.”

After Homeland‘s rejuvenated season, Levins is optimistic of its future.

“I think there’s a lot of life left in Homeland,” he said. They’re tackling new subjects, like Isis and Putin, and the writers have “shown [an] ability to have a new, fresh story each year.” Levins continues, “It’s a show that’s never the same season after season, and those are the shows that can run.”

Showtime and Levins surely hopes their new show Billions and other stalwarts like Masters of Sex, Penny Dreadful have the same kind of run that Homeland has going forward.

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