Showtime renews 'United States of Tara'

Toni Collette of 'United States of Tara'

Credit: Nigel Parry/ Showtime

Showtime has wasted little time deliberating on the future of "United States of Tara," ordering a second season only one month into the comedy's run.

On Tuesday (Feb. 10), Showtime announced that it has ordered a 12-episode second season to begin production this summer and premiere on the premium cable network in early 2010.

"United States of Tara," created by Oscar-winning scribe Diablo Cody ("Juno") from an idea by Steven Spielberg, stars Toni Collette as a wife and mother coping with dissociative identity disorder. The comedy premiered last month and reached 2.67 million subscribers in its first week.

"It has been pure pleasure working with Diablo Cody, Toni Collette, Steven Spielberg and everyone at Dreamworks on 'United State of Tara,'" says Showtime Entertainment President Robert Greenblatt. "This is a perfect fit for our premium brand and we're thrilled that critics and audiences have responded to this groundbreaking show so well. I look forward to many more alternate personalities emerging from this unique series."

Add executive producers Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank of DreamWorks Television, "We feel incredibly fortunate to have worked with Bob Greenblatt and his Showtime team on such a ground breaking project. From an original idea of Steven's to working with Diablo Cody, Craig Gillespie, Alexa Junge, Toni Collette and the amazing cast we feel very proud to be part of this show and look forward to continuing this great collaboration in season 2."

The first week of "Tara" outperformed the premiere weeks for current Showtime favorites "Weeds," "Californication," "Dexter" and "The Tudors."

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