Showtime Ending 'The Big C' With a Four-Episode Final Season

While carefully sidestepping any accidental tasteless puns about the end being in sight or the diagnosis not looking good for "The Big C," Showtime announced yesterday that the Darlene Hunt-created dramedy would come to a close with a limited-run fourth season consisting of four hour-long episodes (the show's previously been a half-hour one).

The show, which stars Laura Linney as a housewife and mother who reevaluates her life after she's diagnosed with terminal melanoma, has a cast that includes Oliver Platt, John Benjamin Hickey and "Precious" Oscar-nominee Gabourey Sidibe. After a strong start with both audiences and critics, the show has been muddled in its run, attracting praise from many for its performances while others have criticized its approach to cancer as unoriginal.

Last month, Showtime also announced that the current season of "Weeds," which started July 1st, would be the pot dramedy's last.

The network does have two new dramas slated for 2013 -- "Masters of Sex," with Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan, and "Ray Donovan," with Liev Schreiber.

As reported by Futon Critic, the network is also launching a new series of docs next year under the title "Close Up," starting with R.J. Cutler's "The World According to Dick Cheney."

And Oliver Stone's 10-part miniseries "The Untold History of the United States," which Stone will narrate, will premiere November 12 and will consist of a re-examination of underreported events in American history.