'Homeland' Final Season Gets Premiere Date

Homeland
Showtime

'Shameless' also gets a return date for its upcoming 10th season.

The final season of Homeland has a premiere date.

Claire Danes will begin her farewell tour for the Showtime spy drama when the 12-episode eighth season kicks off Sunday, Feb. 9, 2020 at 9 p.m. ET/PT, it was announced Friday at the Television Critics Association summer press tour.

Showtime also announced premiere dates for Shameless' upcoming 10th season, slating it to return Sunday, Nov. 3 at 9 p.m. ET/PT followed by back-to-back episodes of Jim Carrey's Kidding

The final season of Homeland finds Carrie Mathison (Danes) recovering from months of brutal confinement in a Russian gulag. Her body is healing, but her memory remains fractured -- which is a problem for Saul (Mandy Patinkin), now National Security Advisor to the newly ascendant President Warner (Beau Bridges). The top priority of Warner’s young administration is an end to the “forever war” in Afghanistan, and Saul has been dispatched to engage the Taliban in peace negotiations. But Kabul teems with warlords and mercenaries, zealots and spies -- and Saul needs the relationships and expertise that only his protégé can provide. Against medical advice, Saul asks Carrie to walk with him into the lion’s den -- one last time.  

In addition to Danes and Patinkin, Homeland stars Maury Sterling, Linus Roache, Costa Ronin, Nimrat Kaur and Numan Acar. Danes' husband, Hugh Dancy, will also appear in a recurring capacity as John Zabel, a consultant that the White House takes on to assist with foreign policy matters.

Last August, Showtime announced that the eighth season would be Homeland's last, months after Danes revealed that Homeland would be wrapping up during an appearance on The Howard Stern Show. 

"Yeah, that's it," Danes said when Stern asked about rumors that the show was ending soon. "She's a lot, this Carrie freakin' Mathison. I'll be ready for a reprieve from that."

In March 2017, Danes expressed her hopes for Carrie in the final seasons of Homeland. "I'm always hoping for a little relief for Carrie," Danes said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. "Lots of crying, lots of reasons to cry."

The four-time Golden Globe winner quipped that her dream scene would just be Carrie hanging out with her daughter, Frannie. "I would just like her to play Monopoly with Frannie," Danes said. "One game of Monopoly -- benign, easy, chill. That's always my little wish for her is some domestic bliss."

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