Showtime renews Billions for second season

They say money doesn’t buy happiness, but it has bought Billions a second season on Showtime. After only two episodes aired, the drama starring Paul Giamatti and Damien Lewis has received an order for season 2, the network announced Tuesday.

Billions boasts the best series debut performance ever for a Showtime original series with its Jan. 17 debut drawing 6.5 million viewers. The show’s success contributed to the network’s most successful premiere week since its inception.

The series follows U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Giamatti) and affluent hedge fund tycoon Bobby Axelrod (Lewis) for a look at the lives of New York City’s wealthiest and most corrupt influencers in the overlapping worlds of business and politics. Both leading men maintain their secrets and backroom dealings, making it difficult for viewers to decide who to root for. “We set these opposing forces in motion against each other and really try to dive into something that’s central to the American myth,” co-creator, writer, and EP David Levien told EW.

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Brian Koppelman holds the same titles as Levien, and Andrew Ross Sorkin joins as co-creator and executive producer. Malin Akerman, Magie Stiff, Toby Leonard Moore, David Costabile, Maggie Siff, and Condola Rashad also star.

“Some of us look at the businessman as the personification of evil, and others look at the businessman as the ultimate goal of American exceptionalism,” Koppelman added. “We’re trying to get underneath the monolith of the billionaire and the federal prosecutor.”

Billions airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on Showtime.