The pickup for the Lena Waithe-created drama comes midway through its second season.

Showtime is putting down deeper roots in Chicago: The premium cable network has renewed Lena Waithe's drama The Chi for a third season.

The pickup comes midway through the show's second season, and a day after Showtime renewed the first-year comedy Black Monday. A return date or episode count for season three hasn't been set.

"The Chi revels in revealing the beating heart of the South Side of Chicago,” Showtime Entertainment president Gary Levine said Tuesday in a statement. "We, like our viewers, have fallen in love with these characters and we remain eager to see where Lena and her fellow artists will take them in season three."

Filmed on location in creator Waithe's hometown, The Chi centers on a group of people living on the city's South Side who are linked by coincidence but bonded by the need for connection and redemption. The cast includes Jason Mitchell, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, Jacob Latimore, Alex Hibbert, Yolonda Ross and Armando Riesco.

Ayanna Floyd Davis came aboard as showrunner for season two. She executive produces with Waithe, Common, Aaron Kaplan, Rick Famuyiwa and Derek Dudley and Shelby Stone of Freedom Road Productions. The series comes from Fox 21 TV Studios.

The Chi is part of a Showtime scripted lineup that also includes Shameless, Billions, Homeland (which airs its final season in 2019), Black Monday, Kidding, The Affair (also entering its last season) and Ray Donovan, plus the upcoming Halo (based on the mega-popular video game), City on a Hill and the Roger Ailes miniseries The Loudest Voice.