Showtime Cancels United States of Tara, Renews Nurse Jackie

Series finale of the Toni Collette comedy airs June 20; the Edie Falco series will return for season four in 2012

By Jennifer Arrow May 23, 2011 7:30 PMTags
Toni Collette, United States of Tara, Edie Falco, Nurse JackieJordin Althaus/Showtime; Christian Weber/Showtime

Goodbye, Tara, Alice, Buck, T and Shoshanna!

After three seasons, Showtime is shutting down The United States of Tara, the premium cable network's half-hour dramedy about a Kansas mom (Toni Collette)
with dissociative identity disorder. The series finale will air June 20.

So that's the bad news. The good news is the network has renewed Nurse Jackie for a fourth season!

READ MORE: Lost Ended One Year Ago: Are You Still Mad?

United States of Tara, which was created by hot young writer Diablo Cody, earned star Toni Collette both an Emmy and a Golden Globe, but the ratings for the series were poor, drifting as low as 400,000 an episode for the current season. Cody tweeted about the Tara cancellation, saying, "TARA got canned, everyone. I feel sick, but proud. Each season got better. Best/nicest cast & CREW ever. Toni=God. Thank YOU for watching!" She also tweeted, "This was my original statement. RT @sbellikoff NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Jackie, which stars Edie Falco as a Manhattan emergency-room nurse who is viewed as an angel by her patients but who is considerably less virtuous in her personal life, earned Falco an acting Emmy in 2010 and a Golden Globe nomination for best comedy in 2011.

The supporting cast consists of Twilight star (and husband of Jennie Garth) Peter Facinelli as charming lightweight Dr. Cooper, "genius grant" winner Anna Deavere Smith as befuddled but imperious hospital admin Gloria Akalitus, British actress Eve Best as Jackie's best friend Dr. O'Hara, and the brilliant Merritt Wever as the sincere but somewhat Pollyanna-ish nurse trainee Zoey Barkow.

Nurse Jackie airs Monday nights at 10 p.m. on Showtime; season four will premiere in 2012.

Showtime previously ordered a second season of their latest historical costume drama, The Borgias. Production on a second 10 episodes of the Jeremy Irons epic begins this summer.