Showtime has renewed hit drama series The Chi for a fifth season. The premium cabler announced the news just hours after Sunday night’s Season 4 finale.

The renewal comes amid strong ratings for the series, which is averaging 4.2 million weekly viewers and is on pace to become the most-streamed Showtime series ever, according to the network. Season 5 is slated to premiere in 2022.

Created and executive produced by Lena Waithe and executive produced by Common, The Chi is a timely coming-of-age story about a group of residents on the South Side of Chicago who become linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption.

Season 4 of The Chi spotlighted the benefits and challenges of community policing on the South Side after Jake (Michael V. Epps) has a fateful run-in with a group of officers. In addition to Epps, the Season 4 series regular cast includes Jacob Latimore, Birgundi Baker, Alex Hibbert, Shamon Brown Jr. Curtiss Cook and Luke James.

In addition to Waithe and Common, Aaron Kaplan, Rick Famuyiwa, Derek Dudley and Shelby Stone of ID8 Multimedia, Rishi Rajani, president of Hillman Grad Productions, and showrunner Justin Hillian serve as executive producers for season four. Produced entirely in its namesake city, The Chi is produced by 20th Television.

Article Originally Posted Here.