Orange is the New Black renewed for three additional seasons

Netflix’s award-winning comedy series Orange is the New Black is here to stay: the streaming platform announced on Friday that the show has been renewed for three more seasons.

The three additional seasons will follow the fourth season, which debuts on Netflix on 17 June.

The news comes in the wake of the show winning big at the Screen Actors Guild awards on Saturday, where it collected the comedy ensemble award and the comedy female actor trophy for star Uzo Aduba – both for the second year running. Aduba has also netted two Emmys for her performance as Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren.

“Three more years! Not quite a political term, but still plenty of time to do some interesting things. In some cultures, ‘May you lead an interesting life,’ is a curse, but I don’t live in those cultures,” said show-runner Jenji Kohan in a statement. “Here’s to keeping it interesting.”

Cindy Holland, Netflix’s vice-president of original content, added: “Jenji and her team have produced a phenomenal and impactful series that is both funny and dramatic, outrageous and heartfelt. Audiences around the world have come to love the ladies and men of Orange is the New Black, and we are eager to see where three more seasons will take them.”

Netflix has never publicly disclosed viewership figures for any of its individual series, yet its chief content officer Ted Sarandos confirmed during the Television Critics Association winter press tour in January that Orange is the New Black is the streaming platform’s most-watched show.

Kohan teased season four, saying at the TCAs, that it will largely deal with “the corporatization of the prison”.

“We want it to be a surprise, but [you can expect] all the fun stuff like race and hate and some things from current events that we wanted to filter through our lens,” she added.