HBO-loving gays across America, as well as the cast and creators of Looking, have been waiting with bated breath to see if the network was going to renew their quiet, slowly paced show about three gay men looking for love, sex, artistic satisfaction, and peri-peri chicken in San Francisco. And they just got the green light! Expect more Jonathan Groff sightings on our fair streets in the coming months.
As Variety reports, the cable network has given writer Michael Lannan and director Andrew Haigh the go-ahead to shoot a sophomore season of the show, though it's not clear whether it will be another eight-episode season, or potentially a more typical-for-cable 12 to 13 episodes.
The renewal likely comes as a result of the show's growing audience over its most recent three episodes (it averaged 749,000 viewers on Sunday, including encores), though it had premiered to a pretty small one, and the show's growing buzz in the "cultural conversation." And it shows some confidence in the show and its easygoing vibe, despite the recent cancellations of two single-season comedies, Hello Ladies and Family Tree. But it's hard to categorize Looking as a comedy, except when Doris is on screen.
Speaking of Doris, mixed in with the good news is that actress Lauren Weedman, who plays Doris, as well as Raul Castillo (Richie) and Russell Tovey (Kevin) have been promoted to series regular status.
The news comes shortly after HBO announced the renewal of the dark, hospital-based comedy Getting On, starring Laurie Metcalf and Alex Borstein, based on the British series of the same name. That show only had a six-episode season, and was renewed for six more episodes.
We only know that shooting for Season 2 of Looking will begin "later this year," but we'll be on the lookout for extras casting calls and Murray Bartlett slinging chicken from a restaurant location in the near future.
