Showtime has renewed its popular show Billions for a seventh season. The sixth season of the show is currently on air with four episodes released. It is available on Disney+Hotstar in India with new episodes released every Sunday at 10.30 AM. The show gets an early renewal with only four episodes having been released yet.
Season six of the show is the first season of Billions without one of its main stars – Damian Lewis. Damian Lewis, who played the character of Bobby Axelrod, left the show at the end of season five. Mike Prince (Corey Stroll) effectively replaces Bobby Axelrod as the head of his investment firm and nemesis of Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti).
Damian Lewis left to spend more time with his family in England. His wife, actress Helen McCrory, died in April 2021. This led to a forced reset of the show with its creators re-thinking the central conflict.
Early reactions to the show are mixed with a few viewers finding season 6 worthy enough. On the other hand, a lot of fans are missing Damian Lewis and the Axelrod vs Rhoades showdown. However, at just four episodes, these are still early days for the season with audiences still coming to terms with the evolution of the show.
As per the Nielsen ratings data put out by tvseriesfinale.com , the current season of the show averages 296,000 viewers. This is down by 40% as compared to season five. Although these numbers don’t include delayed or streaming views, they do indicate that the show’s popularity has certainly reduced.
The series is created and executive produced by showrunners Brian Koppelman and David Levien. Beth Schacter also serves as showrunner and executive producer. The series was also created by Andrew Ross Sorkin. Apart from Paul Giamatti and Corey Stroll, the show also stars David Costabile, Maggie Siff, Asia Kate Dhillon, Condola Rashad and Jeffrey DeMunn in key roles. The series in its first five seasons largely told the story of hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod and his aggressive (and at times, illegal) acts to earn wealth with the US Attorney Chuck Rhoades on his heels attempting to prosecute.
While the jury amongst the viewers may still be out on season 6, Showtime seems convinced that the show will win over its skeptic fans.