Hoping to fight off the season-four itch and keep things between them fresh, ABC has presented its popular show Mistresses with an impromptu gift: a big, shiny renewal notice. The series, which has become a staple of the network’s summer schedule, will be returning next year for 14 more episodes of light, breezy fun. (ABC presumably hasn’t told its other summer shows about this little arrangement yet, preferring to keep things relaxed and simple for what it tells itself is everyone involved’s own good.)
Of course, at four seasons, Mistresses isn’t quite as young or as spritely as it once was, so a few changes are presumably inevitable. For one thing, Jennifer Esposito, who signed on to replace the departing Alyssa Milano in the show’s third season, won’t be coming back next year; there’s been no announcement whether she’ll be replaced, or if the core cast of Yunjin Kim, Rochelle Aytes, and Jes Macallan will have to pick up the slack. Still, ABC assures itself, things can still be the same as they ever were. And if things start to feel a little stale? Well, then, there’ll always be another Shondaland show coming by soon to keep things feeling fresh…