HBO has renewed the Dwayne Johnson sports comedy “Ballers” for a second season.

The half-hour series has generated strong buzz for HBO since its June 21 debut.

“The charismatic and hugely talented Dwayne Johnson, along with the rest of the ‘Ballers’ cast, has truly struck a chord with the HBO audience,” said HBO original programming chief Michael Lombardo. “We are thrilled with the overwhelming response the series has received and look forward to another exciting season.”

“Ballers” is akin to “Entourage” set among athletes and it hails from many of alums of that show. HBO bills the first episode of “Ballers” as its most-watched episode of a comedy series since 2009, with multiplatform plays totaling 8.9 million viewers to date, plus another 5.6 million views from the decision to make it the pilot available via Johnson’s Facebook page.

Johnson plays a former football player who is restyling himself as a financial manager to players based in Miami. John David Washington, Omar Miller, Donovan W. Carter, Troy Garity, London Brown, Jazmyn Simon and Rob Corddry co-star.

“Entourage” vet Stephen Levinson created the series and exec produces with Johnson, Mark Wahlberg Johnson, Dany Garcia, Peter Berg, Evan Reilly, Rob Weiss, Julian Farino and Denis Biggs.

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Good news for fans of Everlasting: Lifetime has renewed UnREAL for a 10-episode second season.

“We couldn’t be more proud to bring back UnREAL,” said Liz Gateley, executive vice president and head of programming for Lifetime. “With authentically flawed characters, sharp storytelling and impeccable performances, this show is propelling our brand in a truly exciting direction – an unexpected and bolder Lifetime. We are thrilled to continue our work with Marti [Noxon] and Sarah [Gertrude Shapiro] and the incredible A+E Studios team, as we together bring a new generation of viewers to Lifetime.”

UnREAL has become a critical smash during its first season, and according to the network has averaged more than 4.8 million viewers across all its available platforms. The show stars Shiri Appleby as a producer on Everlasting, a reality dating program not unlike The Bachelor. Constance Zimmer plays the show within a show’s no-nonsense executive producer, with Craig Bierko (as the Everlasting creator) and Freddie Stroma (as the Everlasting suitor) in supporting roles. Shapiro had a day job on The Bachelor and turned her experiences into both a short film, called Sequin Raze, and UnREAL.

“The reality of how reality shows are made, a lot of that is based on anecdotal stories from people we know,” Noxon told EW. “After the show’s debut, people got in touch with us and were like, ‘Oh my gosh, you guys got it right,’ which is chilling if you think about it. It’s kind of an open secret that although the shows aren’t scripted, a producer’s job is to get contestants to adhere to a role or a task. As the season goes on, we definitely push that envelope for maximum drama. We’re stretching the truth as we’ve heard it or as we understand it.

UnREAL airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET on Lifetime.

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