Showtime

Hot on the heels of the departed "The Tudors," "The Borgias" arrives on Showtime this Sunday. I won't say I saw it coming, but now that it's here — it's "The Tudors" meets "The Sopranos," a point underscored by its tag line, "The original crime family" — it seems all but inevitable. Indeed, this is only the first of two series on that murderous Renaissance clan coming your way this year. The second, Tom Fontana's "Borgia," is being made with French money, with former HBO honcho Chris Albrecht along as an executive producer.

Jeremy Irons stars as the ruthless Rodrigo Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI, in Showtime's period drama"The Borgias," now in its second season. You really seem like you're having fun with this role. I'm glad about that. I've always believed that in the theater or movies, whatever, the audience's enjoyment is increased if the actors seem to be enjoying what they're doing. What's fun about the Borgia pope? The great thing about doing series television is you have time.

"House of Lies," which premieres Sunday, is a new series from Showtime about management consultants. The job is described as impossible to describe, but the general idea is that they're con artists who make troubled corporations dependent on their own company's advice. As legend-in-his-field Marty Kaan (Don Cheadle) puts it, the goal is to "make them think they can't live without us .... while we infect the host and bleed them dry. " Among other things, the show — based on a memoir by Marty Kihn, once head writer for VH1's "Pop-Up Videos" — seems to me a product of the knowledge that "Californication" can't last forever, and that it would be good for the network to have another male-targeted sex fantasy on hand when it goes.

SERIES Celebrity House Hunting: Corey Feldman and his son go looking for a new Feldmansion Fortress in this new episode (7 p.m. Biography). Community: Shirley, Pierce and Britta (Yvette Nicole Brown, Chevy Chase and Gillian Jacobs) plot against the new sub shop in the cafeteria while Vice Dean Laybourne (John Goodman) continues his efforts to recruit Troy (Donald Glover) to the Air Conditioning Repair Annex (8 p.m. NBC). Missing: Becca's (Ashley Judd) search for Michael (Nick Eversman)

'It may have divided the critics, but in the ratings "Shameless" scored another win for Showtime's programming strategy of banking on antihero star vehicles. The drama, an Americanized version of a British series, stars William H. Macy as an abusive, substance-abusing father. It delivered 982,000 total viewers, according to the Nielsen Co. ? the pay-cable network's biggest drama premiere in seven years, since "Dead Like Me" scored 1.1 million. The show divided reviewers, with Los Angeles Times critic Mary McNamara finding it gritty and preachy, "never a good combination.

'The Green Room With Paul Provenza' Where: Showtime When: 10:30 p.m. Friday Rating: TV-MA-L (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17 with an advisory for coarse language)

Television networks alter their scripts when fortunes begin to crumble. But Showtime is calling for a rewrite when it's already on a winning streak. At a time when it could be savoring its success ? a string of acclaimed hits, millions of new subscribers and profit that has risen more than 20% in the last year ? Showtime instead is plotting a potentially risky new tack. The network has a new entertainment chief who wants to tweak Showtime's distinctive brand: programs built around deeply conflicted and morally challenged characters such as the serial killer Dexter, the pill-addicted Nurse Jackie and the drug-dealing mom in "Weeds.

Jeremy Irons' impressive gallery of distinctive historical characters includes his Oscar-winning portrait of chilly socialite Claus Van Bulow in "Reversal of Fortune" and Georgia O'Keeffe's husband, Alfred Stieglitz, in the TV movie "O'Keeffe. " Although Irons has demonstrated ease in slipping into these real-life personas, he had surprising reservations about taking on the ambitious, diabolical Rodrigo Borgia, also known as Pope Alexander VI, in Showtime's historical drama "The Borgias," which premieres Sunday.

Summit Entertainment has set a pay-television plan for its post-"Twilight" era, signing an exclusive agreement for its movies with HBO that runs from 2013 until 2017. The Santa Monica independent studio is switching away from HBO rival Showtime: Its current deal to distribute its movies on Showtime expires at the end of next year. The Showtime agreement, reached in late 2008, includes all of Summit's five "Twilight" movies, the last two of which are scheduled to hit theaters in November 2011 and November 2012.

A premium cable TV channel being set up by Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Pictures, MGM Studios Inc. and Lionsgate Entertainment Corp. has hired former Showtime executive Mark Greenberg to become its chief executive. Plans for the channel were announced last month after the studios could not reach a deal to continue to supply their movies to Showtime, the premium channel that belongs to CBS Corp.

This was not your typical in-season coaching change, but few are as monumental. If Lakers coach Jack McKinney hadn't decided to ride his bike to a tennis date with assistant Paul Westhead on Nov. 8, 1979 the course of the team's history might have been different — and so would the course of several men's lives. McKinney had left an assistant's job in Portland to coach the Lakers in 1979 and soon installed the foundation of the Showtime era. His team was humming along at 10-4, his relationship with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar solidifying into a deep trust, when McKinney hurtled over the handlebars of his bike and struck his head on the pavement, sustaining a serious head injury.

'Inside Comedy' Where: Showtime When: 11 p.m. Thursday Rating: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 14)

Emmy Rossum, 25, returns to Showtime for the second season of "Shameless" as Fiona, the eldest sister and mother figure of the scrappy, law-skirting, non-working-class Gallagher family. Already a performing vet at 25, Rossum's latest gig follows a childhood launch as a member of the Metropolitan Opera's Children's Chorus and starring roles in the 2004 film "The Phantom of the Opera" and big-budget disaster movies including "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Poseidon. " What will we learn about the Gallaghers this season?

From his Oscar-nominated performance in "Hotel Rwanda" to his boys-night-out turns in the "Ocean's 11" franchise, Don Cheadle has regularly earned praise for his diverse range. But he's never really gone full monty — until now. In the opening moments of "House of Lies," Showtime's new comedy about a hard-edged management consulting firm which premieres Jan. 8, Cheadle is lying in bed in all his birthday suit glory next to a naked woman. The actor knows the sight may catch some viewers by surprise.

'House of Lies' Where: Showtime When: 10 p.m. Sunday Rating: TV-MA-LS (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17 with advisories for coarse language and sex)

"House of Lies," which premieres Sunday, is a new series from Showtime about management consultants. The job is described as impossible to describe, but the general idea is that they're con artists who make troubled corporations dependent on their own company's advice. As legend-in-his-field Marty Kaan (Don Cheadle) puts it, the goal is to "make them think they can't live without us .... while we infect the host and bleed them dry. " Among other things, the show — based on a memoir by Marty Kihn, once head writer for VH1's "Pop-Up Videos" — seems to me a product of the knowledge that "Californication" can't last forever, and that it would be good for the network to have another male-targeted sex fantasy on hand when it goes.

"It's Garry Shandling's Show," the comedy series that many critics called the best of the season, received a three-year, 54-episode renewal Wednesday from the Showtime pay-TV channel. The long-term order is unusual by commercial-TV standards but not unprecedented at Showtime, which gave a 50-episode commitment to its comedy series "Brothers" in 1985. "By ordering 54 episodes, we are protecting our investment. . . .," said Allen Sabinson, a Showtime senior vice president.

Call this chapter of Laker history The Death of Showtime. You remember Showtime, don't you? Jump shot by Dr. J is off the rim. Rebound Chones! Outlet pass to Nixon!! To Magic in the sgotCooperandWilkesonthewingsHERETHEYCOME,THREE-ON-TWO!!!MAGICFAKESLEFT PASSESRIGHTTOCOOPER SA-LAAAAMDUNK!!!!OHHHHH!!!!!! (My thanks to Chick Hearn for the preceding re-enactment of a Laker fast break, circa 1980. For being my guest in today's column, Chick, I'd like to present you with a $10 gift certificate to the L.A. Times cafeteria.

Let those other guys have their Big Apple. We'll settle for being the city of the Big Bounce. On a Monday night when it was smooth sailing for the Clippers and egg-on-the-face for the Lakers, Los Angeles was in midseason form. And it certainly wasn't midseason, thanks to the NBA labor stalemate. It was Dec. 19, the Lakers were playing the Clippers at Staples Center, the game was sold out and the city was abuzz. And this was the exhibition opener. PHOTOS: Lakers vs. Clippers It didn't mean anything, and it meant everything.