14 DAY TRIAL // When season 8 of “Weeds” premieres on Showtime on July 1st, make sure you enjoy every second of it because it will be its last. Series creator Jenji Kohan has already confirmed the sad news for Entertainment Weekly.
One of the most successful original series, “Weeds” has seen a decline in the ratings with recent seasons, losing fans because of what was dubbed a creative slump.
Even so, it remained one of the network's strongest shows, right there next to “Dexter,” which also breathing its last breaths, officially so.
“I’m so proud of what we do here and that it’s about a strong woman lead who’s really flawed,” Kohan says of the show and its lovable (and just as easily despised) protagonist Nancy Botwin played by Mary-Louise Parker.
“We get to do comedy right up against drama, which a lot of shows don’t get the opportunity to do,” the series creator adds.
She says she's “sad” about having to end the show but, at the same time, she's thrilled about the possibility that's being handed to her, that of taking out “Weeds” with a massive bang.
“There were two shows, Weeds and Dexter, that really got Showtime taken seriously for cutting-edge original programming,” Showtime entertainment president David Nevins says for EW about the imminent exit of the two series.
“How they get brought home is really important. In this case, both for the sake of the two women behind the show [Kohan and Parker] and an audience that’s really invested in the show. TV fans love nothing better than to complain about how shows end and we really want to end this one the right way,” Nevins adds.
Just so we don't leave fans with a bad taste in their mouth after all this, we should also mention that Kohan has also dished some dirt on what they're to expect from season 8.
First things first, she says the sniper mystery at the end of season 7 will be solved immediately. The story will also jump ahead in time for another few years, seeing the Botwins back in the suburbs where they started.
“We wrack our brains every year for crazy cliffhangers and we’re trying to figure out how to top ourselves,” Kohan says.
She might not have everything planned out yet, but everybody knows she will pull off a stellar final episode for such a stellar show.
“No matter how close she’s gone to the edge of everything falling apart, she reels the story back in, grounds it, and brings you back. It’s an art form,” Lionsgate TV Group president Kevin Beggs says of Kohan's work on “Weeds.”