As hinted at by Catherine Bell, Lifetime has ordered a seventh season of their popular Army Wives TV series. The cable channel has ordered 13 episodes this time around — one of the show’s smallest episode orders — though they could order more at a later date. Seasons one and five had this few episodes while the others have had between 18 and 23 installments apiece.

The Lifetime announcement notes the sixth season cast but doesn’t mention who will or who won’t be back for the seventh round of episodes. As far as we know, only Bell has been locked in with a new contract.

Here’s the press release:

LIFETIME ORDERS ANOTHER TOUR OF DUTY FOR “ARMY WIVES”

Hit Drama’s Seventh Season to Feature 13 All-New Episodes for 2013

LOS ANGELES, CA (September 21, 2012) – Lifetime has renewed its hit drama Army Wives for a seventh season with a 13 episode order for a 2013 return, it was announced today by Rob Sharenow, Executive Vice President, Programming, of Lifetime Networks.

Regarding the announcement, Sharenow said, “Army Wives is a very special program. It’s rare to find a series that connects with viewers and resonates so powerfully after six straight seasons, and we couldn’t be prouder to have it return to Lifetime next year.”

Averaging 3.2 million Total Viewers, Army Wives’ sixth season, which concluded September 9 and was the number one ad-supported cable series in its premiere time period among Women 18+, follows the struggles, dreams and friendships of a diverse group of women – and one man – living with their spouses and families on an active army post.

The series’ sixth season starred Kim Delaney, Sally Pressman, Brian McNamara, Sterling K. Brown, Wendy Davis, Drew Fuller, Terry Serpico, Kelli Williams and Catherine Bell, and also featured Kellie Martin, Alyssa Diaz and JJ Soria. Produced by ABC Studios, with Mark Gordon and Jeff Melvoin serving as executive producers, the series is based on the book Army Wives: The Unwritten Code of Military Marriage by Tanya Biank, who serves as a consultant.

ABOUT ABC STUDIOS

ABC Studios is a leader in the development, production and strategic distribution of entertainment content across television and emerging digital platforms. As a key content driver for the ABC Entertainment Group, the studio has produced multiple seasons of primetime series, such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Lost,” “Castle,” “Brothers and Sisters,” “Private Practice,” “Army Wives” and “Criminal Minds,” which have fed the company’s distribution pipelines worldwide with programming and related product lines. During the 2011-12 season (September-May), ABC Studios claimed 4 of the top 5 broadcast dramas among Adults 18-49, with “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Once Upon a Time,” Criminal Minds” and “Desperate Housewives.” “Grey’s Anatomy” stood as the season’s top-rated drama overall in the key young adult sales demo, and “Once Upon a Time” ranked as the # 1 new drama, finishing as TV’s highest-rated freshman drama in 4 years – since the 2007-08 season. ABC Studios continues its history of producing memorable television programming with the recent orders of seven new series set to debut during the 2012-2013 television season (“Malibu Country,” “Zero Hour,” “Red Widow,” “The Neighbors,” “Family Tools,” “Nashville” and “Mistresses”), along with the recent renewal of “Perception” on TNT, comedy “Cougar Town” premiering on TBS on January 8, 2013, and new drama “Devious Maids” premiering on Lifetime in 2013.

ABOUT LIFETIME

Lifetime Television is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. The network posted major growth in viewership among the key demographics in Second Quarter 2012 versus Second Quarter 2011, posting a 13% jump among Women 18-49, +5% among Adults 18-49 and +1% in Women 25-54. Additionally, among Women 18-49, Lifetime marked the network’s strongest 2Q growth in 10 years. Lifetime Television(R), LMN(R), Lifetime Real Women(R) and Lifetime Digital(TM) are part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, LLC, a subsidiary of A+E Networks. A+E Networks is a joint venture of the Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst Corporation.

What do you think? Are you glad to hear that Army Wives is returning for another season? How long would you like to see it continue?