Showtime sets return dates for 'Billions' and 'Homeland'

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Season 6 of Homeland is to premiere on Jan. 15, while Billions is to kick off its second season on Feb. 19, Showtime announced.

Both series are shooting in New York this summer.

Starring Claire Danes, Mandy Patinkin, F. Murray Abraham and Rupert Friend, the political thriller Homeland will once again take place in the United States after the last two seasons were filmed in South Africa and Berlin.

"After she thwarted a terrorist attack in Berlin, Season 6 picks up several months later and finds Carrie Mathison (Danes) back on American soil, living in Brooklyn, N.Y.," a press release said. "She has begun working at a foundation whose efforts are to provide aid to Muslims living in the United States. Season 6 will tackle the after-effects of the U.S. presidential election, with the entire season taking place between election day and the inauguration. It's a strange, transitional time in the halls of government, filled with anxiety and different competing interests, where a very fragile and complex transfer of power takes place between the outgoing president and the incoming president-elect."

The show has already been renewed for two additional seasons beyond Season 6.

Billions is a contemporary, financial-themed drama starring Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis.

"It's law versus money, with power, sex, and the soul of New York in the balance, as hard-charging U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades (Giamatti) squares off against billionaire, hedge-fund king Bobby 'Axe' Axelrod (Lewis)," a synopsis said. "Maggie Siff stars as Wendy Rhoades, Chuck's estranged wife and the top performance coach in the hedge-fund world. Malin Akerman plays Lara Axelrod, Axe's fiercely loyal and street-smart wife. Season 2 finds the characters vying for control in a changing world that presents an existential threat. For all of them, it's a choice between evolution and extinction."