As reported back in November, USA has renewed Necessary Roughness for a third season. The TV series will return with 10 new episodes sometime this year. This represents the smallest season order to date. A bad sign for the show’s future? We shall see.

The first season ran over Summer 2011 and had 12 installments. The second season began airing last June and 11 episodes ran through late August. The remaining five installments of season two will start rolling out on January 23rd and finish on February 20th.

Here’s the official press release:

USA NETWORK SIGNALS FULL SLATE PICKUP OF SUMMER ORIGINAL SERIES WITH “NECESSARY ROUGHNESS” SEASON THREE ORDER

Golden Globe(R) Nominated Original Drama Starring Callie Thorne To Film 10 Episodes in 2013

NEW YORK, NY – January 7, 2013 – USA Network ordered a third season of its Golden Globe(R) nominated original drama series NECESSARY ROUGHNESS. The 10-episode pickup completes the renewal of the network’s full summer slate of original drama series, joining previous new season orders for SUITS, BURN NOTICE, ROYAL PAINS, WHITE COLLAR and COVERT AFFAIRS. The announcement is from USA Network Co-Presidents Chris McCumber and Jeff Wachtel.

NECESSARY ROUGHNESS, paired with ROYAL PAINS, averaged 5.3M viewers as the Wednesday night block this summer. The season two premiere of NECESSARY ROUGHNESS nabbed 4.6 million total viewers.

“NECESSARY ROUGHNESS is an important page in our network playbook,” said Wachtel and McCumber. “With a standout team of actors and writers playing at the top of their game, the upcoming seasons promise to deliver high-impact and creative storytelling.”

NECESSARY ROUGHNESS features Golden Globe(R) nominee Callie Thorne as she reprises her acclaimed role as Dr. Dani Santino, a Long Island psychotherapist and single mother who’s plucked out of relative obscurity to become the sports-psychologist for the New York Hawks. Season two returns on January 23, 2013 at 10/9c with five powerful episodes leading to a dramatic finale. After running the risk of losing her entire practice, Dani attempts to pick up the pieces of her complicated life. Meanwhile, Hawks star player and ultimate bad boy TK (Mehcad Brooks) struggles with his sobriety but will stop at nothing to maintain his number-one position as wide receiver. And with the franchise’s ownership in the balance, the team is challenged when a secret threatens to bring down the Hawks’ entire season.

Season two of the series stars Callie Thorne, Marc Blucas, Scott Cohen, Hannah Marks, Patrick Johnson and Mehcad Brooks. Upcoming guest appearances include sports franchise owner and entrepreneur Mark Cuban, former NFL quarterback Joe Theismann, Will Chase (“Smash”), Peter MacNichol (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Robbie Jones (“Hellcats”), Jeff Nordling (“Body of Proof”) and Neil Hopkins (“Lost”.)

NECESSARY ROUGHNESS is created and executive produced by Liz Kruger & Craig Shapiro (“Miami Medical,” “The Challenge”). Jeffrey Lieber (“Lost,” “Miami Medical”) and Kevin Dowling (“Sons of Tucson”) also serve as executive producers. Inspired by a true story, NECESSARY ROUGHNESS is a Sony Pictures Television and Universal Cable Productions co-production.

Sony Pictures Television (http://www.sonypicturestelevision.com), a Sony Pictures Entertainment company, is one of the television industry’s leading content providers. It produces and distributes programming in every genre, around the world and for a multitude of platforms. In addition to one of the industry’s largest libraries of award-winning feature films, television shows and formats, Sony Pictures Television (SPT) boasts a current program slate that includes top-rated daytime dramas and game shows, landmark off-network series, original animated series and critically acclaimed primetime dramas, comedies and telefilms. SPT has 18 wholly-owned or joint venture production companies in 15 countries outside the U.S. and also maintains offices in 32 countries. SPT’s worldwide television networks portfolio includes 124 channel feeds available in 159 countries, reaching more than 800 million households worldwide. SPT also creates original content for and manages SPE’s premium video website, Crackle. Additionally, SPT owns production company Embassy Row and is a part owner of cable channel Game Show Network (GSN), 3D channel 3net, premier horror/thriller website and VOD service FEARnet and national U.S media sales company ITN Networks, Inc. SPT advertiser sales is one of the premier national advertising sales companies and handles the commercial inventory in SPT’s syndicated series as well as in U.S. digital businesses including FEARnet, DrOz.com and PlayStation.

The #1 network in all of basic cable for six consecutive years and an unprecedented seven straight summers, USA Network is seen in over 102 million U.S. homes. USA is a leader in scripted programming with a powerful stable of originals, spectacular live television and is home to the best in blockbuster theatrical films, a broad portfolio of acquired series and entertainment events. A trailblazer in digital innovation and storytelling, USA is defining, driving and setting the industry standard for Social TV. USA is a program service of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal. The award-winning website is located at www.usanetwork.com. Characters Welcome.

What do you think? Are you looking forward to season three of the USA series?