Showtime orders a second season of ‘Nurse Jackie,’ STAT!

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Showtime has renewed the Edie Falco comedy ‘Nurse Jackie’ for a second season just hours after the series’ Monday night premiere.

More than 1 million viewers tuned into the 10:30 p.m. premiere and an additional 350,000 watched the 11:30 p.m. encore, collectively making it the biggest premiere for an original Showtime series since 2004 (when Nielsen shifted the way it calculates ratings for pay cable channels.)

The Season 5 premiere of ‘Weeds’ had an even better night, drawing 1.22 million viewers at 10 p.m., and an additional 466,000 for the 11 p.m. encore. That’s up 25% from the haul for last year’s season finale.

Production on a 12-episode second season of ‘Nurse Jackie’ will begin this summer in New York for a premiere in 2010.

-- Denise Martin

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