Homeland Season 4 Gets Two-Hour Premiere on Showtime

Homeland returns to Showtime for Season 4 in October, and fans of Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes) and her mission will get a double dose of the series when it premieres.

The network announced Monday that Homeland's first two episodes would air back-to-back on Sunday, Oct. 5 at 9 p.m. Eastern. The show is filming completely on location in South Africa, and the new season puts Carrie in one of the "most volatile and dangerous CIA stations in the Middle East," according to TVLine.

"[T]here is such strong anticipation for the start of Season 4 that we wanted to give Homeland fans an extra generous helping of Carrie and company," said Showtime EVP Gary Levine in a statement. "Once we decided to premiere Homeland with a double episode, it made sense to use the momentum of that event to launch our newest series, The Affair, the very next week."

As Levine indicated, Showtime moved up the premiere of The Affair by one week to Sunday, Oct. 12 at 10 p.m. Eastern. The relationship drama stars Dominic West of The Wire, Ruth Wilson of Luther, Maura Tierney of ER and Joshua Jackson of Fringe.

TVLine recently reported some news about a certain teenage girl's absence that should make some fans extremely happy.

"'We're all very much invested in the Quinn character,' is all executive producer Alexander Cary would say when asked about a possible relationship between Carrie and Quinn (Rupert Friend). But as a consolation prize...I offer this from Gansa: "I can say unequivocally that Dana Brody will not be back for Season 4." 

Are you glad to hear about the two-hour premiere? Let us know in the comments below.