The series Ray Donovan has officially come to an end at Showtime, with its recent season 7 finale now being confirmed as a series finale. The drama premiered on the premium television channel back on June 30, 2013, immediately smashing rating records for the network. Ray Donovan was nominated for numerous awards during its seven seasons, but only secured one Golden Globe award (for Jon Voight’s performance as a supporting actor) and one Primetime Emmy award (for Hank Azaria’s guest spot).
The crime drama starred Liev Schreiber as the titular Ray Donovan, a talented fixer who protected the rich and famous on behalf of a powerful law firm. His happy family life grows more complicated, however, after the prison release of his father, portrayed by Voight. Ray Donovan underwent a drastic and revitalizing change after season 5, when the setting moved from Los Angeles to New York. Ultimately, it was not enough to keep the show running much longer.
On Tuesday, Deadline reported that Ray Donovan would not see season 8 after concluding season 7 on January 19, just over a couple of weeks ago. Showtime announced in a statement that the show had reached its end. Prior to this news, Showtime Co-President of Entertainment Gary Levine previously implied that Ray Donovan would be coming to a close in short order, taking out the sting of its eventual cancellation.
Additionally, Schreiber himself hinted that the show was likely coming to an end. Shortly after the season 7 finale aired, the actor posted a video to his Instagram account where he thanked fans for their support, but acknowledged that the possibility of an eighth season was up in the air. This has been Schreiber’s only lead acting role on television, a role that has earned him five Golden Globe nominations and three Primetime Emmy nominations. The end of the series may allow Schreiber to take more film roles. Check out his video below:
For fans of Ray Donovan, missing out on a potential season 8 deprives viewers of an opportunity to reach a fitting conclusion after the season 7 finale. The cancellation of the show also continues a trend of prestigious Showtime shows falling by the wayside in recent years. Shameless is coming to an end, with season 11 set to air some time later this year. The same is true of Homeland, whose eighth and final season is set to begin airing this week. The Affair also ended in late 2019, effectively cutting a majority of the network’s long-running drama series in a matter of a few short months. Other programs like The Chi are emerging to take the place of shows like Ray Donovan, but it still appears to be the end of an era for the network.
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Source: Deadline, Liev Schreiber
