Aaron Sorkin’s new television drama The Newsroom has overcome its mixed opening reviews to secure a second season from premium US cablenet HBO.

The series, which goes behind the scenes at a cable news station, debuted last month to 2.1 million viewers, despite an underwhelming reception from critics.

But HBO has shown its support for the drama by greenlighting a second season after just two episodes on air.

The show was one of the highlights of the LA Screenings in May, receiving rave reviews from international buyers, with deals already in place ^[1] for Scandinavia. It is also broadcast by HBO Canada and is scheduled to air on Sky Atlantic in the UK and Germany.

In addition, HBO has ordered a sixth season of vampire drama True Blood, which will premiere in June 2013. However, it will return without creator and exec producer Alan Ball, who is leaving to work on new projects and will be replaced by Mark Hudis.

Comedy Eastbound & Down, which stars Danny McBride, has also been renewed for an eight-episode fourth season. The previous season concluded in April.

HBO recently gave second-season orders ^[2] to two of its newest comedies, Girls and Veep.