Showtime is on fire! The network has renewed newcomer comedy House of Lies,  fan favorite Shameless, and veteran series Californication for additional seasons.

House of Lies, which just so happens to star Don Cheadle was one of the first series to premiere strong following the dark dramedy Shameless (William H Macy, Emmy Rossum), the latter which has built a solid fan base into their sophomore season. That’s not all that points to Shameless’ success, winning the ratings night against its HBO rival Luck, which has been a heavily promoted show for HBO.

The president of Showtime, Devin Nevins had a lot to say following the renewals stating, “These three shows are clearly resonating with audiences as evidenced by their steady growth on Sunday nights. We are extremely pleased with the creative work being done by the casts, producers and writers – and I so appreciate that each of these series has such a clear and distinctive voice.”

Following the trend that started years ago with network cable’s Desperate Housewives, Sunday nights are on fire for the premium cable network. posting double-digit increases year-over-year. Shameless is averaging 4.75 million weekly viewers across multiple platforms and encore airings, and is up 30 percent year-over-year. Specifically Shameless is number 2 behind HBO’s  veteran series Dexter.

Freshman series House of Lies starring Don Cheadle and Kristen Bell opened with the network’s second highest rated premiere for a comedy.

Lastly, David Duchovny’s racy series Californication averages 3 million viewers  in its fifth season — not an easy feat.

Looks hopeful for the network.

Showtime Renews Shameless, House of Lies, and Californication is a post from: The Inquisitr

Kristen Bell was so happy to get a baby sloth for her birthday that she could barely control her emotions. The “Veronica Mars” actress has a complete emotional breakdown when her fiance Dax Shepard told her that a sloth was coming to her birthday party.

Bell told the Insider recently:

“I’ve been obsessed with sloths for as long as I can remember. They must be my spirit animal or something.”

And the actress wasn’t lying. Today on “The Ellen Degeneres Show” she showed the clip of when she found about her sloth present.

Bell said:

“I immediately was overcome and thought, ‘There’s a sloth near. There is a sloth here. It’s close. It’s gonna happen. I didn’t know how to process that. My entire life I’ve been waiting for this moment, for when I’d get to interact with a sloth.”

Here’s the video of Kristen Bell on Ellen.

Do you have a sloth in your life? Is there anything that makes you so excited that you can’t control your emotions?

Kristen Bell Gets a Sloth, Breaks Down in Tears [Video] is a post from: The Inquisitr

Perennial favorite Astro Boy is back with a new movie due out late 2009.

The official synopsis: “Set in futuristic Metro City, Imagi Studios’ “Astro Boy” is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist to replace the son he has lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving father’s expectations, our hero embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators, before he returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the man who had rejected him.”

The voice talent for the Astro Boy movie is A-List: Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy, Eugene Levy, Matt Lucas and Freddie Highmore.

The Astro Boy Movie Teaser Trailer as following. The current release date is October 23, 2009.

Astro Boy Movie Teaser Trailer is a post from: The Inquisitr