We know, we know.  You’re just starting to get comfortable with Marty and his pod of con-artists taking you for all you’re worth.  You’re just reacquainting yourself with good ol’ Hank Moody, and you’re finally relishing in your ability to live shamelessly and vicariously through the Gallagher clan.  But when has SHOWTIME ever been a place that lets you get comfortable?  We pride ourselves on keeping you on the edge of your seat, grabbing for the next best thing in television.  So while you may be counting down the minutes to this Sunday at 9PM for arguably (in our humble opinion) the best 2 hours of programming all week, we’re already looking forward to April 8^th.

Come April, the wait will finally be over as Nurse Jackie, The Big C and The Borgias finally return to primetime!  Heavy hitters Edie Falco, Laura Linney and Jeremy Irons are back in their iconic roles as Nurse Jackie Peyton, cancer patient Cathy Jamison, and ultimate man of the cloth (depending on who you ask) Rodrigo Borgia.  If all those Golden Globe and Emmy noms they’ve collectively amassed are any indication, we can promise you that they are better than ever in 2012. 

You know you missed Jackie and all her shady, pill-popping ways.  Season 4 will not be one to disappoint, as Jackie finally confronts her long-standing addiction while somehow attempting to save her troubled marriage and keep her family from falling apart.  To make matters more complicated, she now has to contend with an ambitious new hospital administrator (special guest star Bobby Cannavale) who’s set on keeping her in line.  Will Jackie be able to get through the season and all its obstacles while remaining sober?  Looks like you’ll have to tune in to find out.

Who doesn’t love Cathy Jamison?  When we last saw Mrs. J., she had hobbled her way to the finish line of the Minneapolis marathon only to discover the ghost of her husband (Oliver Platt) awaiting her arrival.  How will Cathy cope with this revelation?  What about Adam (as if he’s not already going through enough)?  And will we see the same old sassy Andrea (Gabourey Sidibe) in season 3, or will her being left at the altar make her a changed woman?

Admit it.  You love Rodrigo Borgia.  He’s villainous, conniving, backstabbing, cold-blooded, cruel, and everything we love in a TV character.  He’s also in for quite a lot this season.  Think Jackie and Cathy have problems?  Chump change compared to Pope Alexander.  On the public front, Borgia will seek to consolidate his power and enlist his family to take an oath of revenge on the great noble houses that dared to stand against him, causing his Papacy to face political turmoil once again.  As if that’s not exhausting enough, his children are all now growing up and defying his authority (which most parents can attest to being more than a handful without having a country to run).  Cesare and Juan’s sibling rivalry quickly turns to hatred as their father’s unwavering favoritism toward Juan triggers Cesare to engage his dark side, and Lucrezia has plans of her own to battle the Vatican’s corruption.  If we could give one piece of advice to the Pope, it would be to always keep one eye open, for on top of all these problems with his children and the politics of Rome, archrival Della Rovere is back and plotting an assassination.  Will Rodrigo make it out of season 2 alive?

Mark your calendars now for Sunday, April 8^th.  The drama begins at 9PM with Nurse Jackie, continues at 9:30PM with The Big C, and comes to a head at 10PM with The Borgias.  We can’t tell you the fates of our three protagonists, but can tell you this: you’re not going to want to miss this lineup on SHOWTIME.