After a strong Season 8 premiere on Sunday, Showtime has renewed its top-rated series Shameless for a ninth season. Deadline reports that the entire cast is expected to return led by William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum. The premium cable network made the announcement on Wednesday. The announcement was also made days after co-star Ethan Cutkosky was arrested for DUI, which will not impact production as it has already wrapped for Season 8.

The Season 8 premiere ranked as the highest-rated premiere since Season 3. The Season 8 premiere drew in 1.86 million viewers on Sunday night, which showed an improvement of about 50 percent from the seventh season premiere.

“As challenging as it can be for any show simply to maintain viewers in the current TV landscape, Shameless is adding them in droves,” Showtime Networks CEO and President David Nevins said in a statement. “But it’s no mystery why. The series’ reputation for rich and resonant characters and for deep — and deeply twisted — comedy has drawn not only faithful longtime viewers, but a steadily growing audience. And creatively, the season that kicked off this past Sunday is stronger than ever.”

This comedy-drama series has been proven a hit on Netflix and is ranked as Showtime’s most watched and highest-rated series. Shameless is also one of Showtime’s longest running and most successful series ever, attracting the youngest-skewing audience of any Showtime show.

Created by Paul Abbott and produced by Bonanza Productions in association with John Wells Productions and Warner Bros. Television, Shameless stars Oscar nominee and Emmy Award winner William H. Macy, Golden Globe nominee Emmy Rossum, Emma Kenney, Ethan Cutkosky, Jeremy Allen White, Cameron Monaghan, Christian Isaiah, Elliot Fletcher, Shanola Hampton, Steve Howery, and Isidora Goreshter.

Executive producer and showrunner John Wells said, “We are so grateful to Showtime for giving us the opportunity to continue making Shameless. It’s a labor of love (and a blast) for all of us.”

Production on Season 9 of Shameless will begin next year.