Shameless on SHO HD

Thanks for the thread.

Will check it out. :beer:

For those who don't know. This is a remake of a UK series. Here are some comments from the creator about the original:

[Paul Abbot] told this year's MediaGuardian Edinburgh international TV festival that the UK "lacked the balls" of the US industry with its 26-part drama series. Ben Stephenson, the BBC's head of drama commissioning, later described this view as "naive".

Shows build
Abbott responds: "That wasn't my point. I wasn't talking about mimicking 22 episodes just because Shameless has been commissioned like this. What I was trying to say was that audiences should be presented with material that they can trust to be there year after year on longer order because shows build with familiarity. I'm not critical of the drama we've got. The point is, we should be more proud of British drama and learn how to dare to put a long order series in front of the audience that isn't Holby [City]."

He is an executive producer of the US version of Shameless alongside John Wells, whose credits include ER and The West Wing. Set in Chicago, with William H Macy as Frank, it premieres on Showtime on 9 January and will be broadcast here in the spring by More4 as Shameless USA.

Abbott admits to being "pleasantly surprised" by it. "The casting is supreme. Every six weeks I go over to LA to work on it and in the meantime they load the rushes on to the web for me. I've had quite a lot of input.

" I tried describing [to them] the reason why I wrote Shameless in the first place. And that's a hard task, because it's not true that I simply wanted to exhibit or exemplify the world I grew up in. Working out how to do it and not be repelled by it was the big secret. I wasn't compelled to show people a grim side of life. I was trying to show them the stamina with which people get through that.

"When I first wrote Shameless I would compare each episode with events in the royal family. And you go, 'If it works there and it works here, it works everywhere.' I send Buckingham Palace a box set every Christmas," he jokes.

"Just imagine pitching to Ben [Stephenson] now and saying, 'I want to sell a story about a grim council estate.' I'd pay not to watch it," laughs Abbott.

"Shameless is a really subversive drama pretending to look like something else whilst it's sneaking stuff past the audience that they wouldn't ordinarily want to watch."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010...ott-new-series

As someone who has religiously watched the UK series since the first season, I've been awaiting the US version with great trepidation. There was simply nothing wrong with the UK version. And I really despise the complete waste of talent remaking something already done quite well. The actors in the US version aren't creating characters; they're mimicking what was already done. They aren't influencing the direction their characters may take based on their individual strengths as actors; they're repeating the roles created and developed by those who played the roles before them.

I'm sure at some point things will diverge. But right now you can see it's starting off practically word-for-word like the UK version, just substituting terms Americans might recognize instead of those "foreign" English terms... i.e., council estates vs. the projects.

In general it appears most every actor is actually doing a pretty convincing job in their role, even if they're just re-creating a role polished by their UK counterpart.

But absolutely nothing I've seen or heard of William H. Macy's role seems right. He's playing Frank Gallagher exactly like the UK series character, bringing nothing new to the role, but doing so with not a single ounce of acting ability escaping from his pores. It simply stands out amidst all the other characters as just plain wrong.

All we can hope for as an audience is that it will be obvious to the producers and director of the Showtime series that it's best to have Frank Gallagher just be a falling-down drunk with few lines. And they should consider that role a great place to start diverging from the UK series; let's have Frank run out on the rest of the family now.

I didn't know there was a UK TV show. Not the first time... I'm going to check it out because WHM is a favorite of mine. I'm going to check out the original also.

larry

This isn't the first remake, and it sure won't be the last, of a TV series.
Redd Fox's old "Sanford and Son" comes to mind.

Well at least in this remake, sex and nudity won't be an issue. Showtime certainly wanted to make that perfectly clear in the preview on Sunday.

William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum... 'nuff said.

Tonight!!

Wow. That was really good.
I'm tuned in for the whole season.

I'm glad the gay thing went over well.

If anyone is curious I just noticed that the original UK version is being shown on Sundance. The show must have been on for a while but I've only just noticed it.

http://www.sundancechannel.com/serie...eless_season6/

They are showing a few episodes tonight, obviously to capitalize on the series premiere on Sho.

There were only two episodes on the original series for a total of 90 minutes....

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377260/

edit: and then again, there seems to be a whole lot more than IMDB thinks!

http://www.sundancechannel.com/serie...eless_season6/

I really enjoyed the pilot. I think this series has all the ingredients for a terrific series with elements of comedy, drama and even tragedy. Macy must have fun playing a character that spends most of his time passed out on the floor.

Lots of great and strong characters.

Great opening episode. As stated, strong characters, plus a great "this is who we are, take it or leave it" tone. Nothing felt gratuitous or preachy. And having Joan Cusack in it is like frosting on the cake. Hopefully we'll see a lot more of her.

Me, too. I liked very much what I saw. The show definitely has potential. I was looking forward to seeing Joan Cusack, hadn't seen her in a while, but she's kinda scary looking now with the work she had done on her face. She plays a great character and hopefully her husband stays on the show, I need to know what's up with all the clown stuff.

larry

Enjoyed the first episode too- a lot of implausible situations/reactions... but funny none the less.

I bust out laughing when the father caught his daughter under the table um... servicing... her tutor

I was stunned when he was moving out and only bothered to take his clown collections. Hilarious.

Initially, during the first 15 minutes I was negotiating with myself whether to finish watching, and/or to DELETE and cancel the series recording.

Then, it began to get much better. I stayed with it til the end.

By the time it was over I was glad I'd watched it all, and am looking forward to tonight's episode.

Can't decide who's really the "primary" character, because there are a number (each with associated story arcs) who merit following and who interest me. Really kind of an ensemble. I like Emmy Rossum.

I do find it all a bit frenetic and implausible, of course, with a whole [Chicago] household of waifs and urchins coexisting in a few bedrooms, with a motherly head mistress older sister, pretty much "Oliver". Starting at 7:15AM every day the chaos begins anew, with nights clubbing and instantly coupling with a [car thief] admirer who is smitten by her, and she suddenly by him... in the midst of the madness. This sudden (and slightly inexplicable though dramatically predicable) romance was a bit weak, to me.

Thankfully, the pace slowed down toward the end and characters were allowed to become more 3D, and reachable. The two older brothers and the whole gay side story is moving an interesting direction.


Looking forward to the next episode.

I really liked the premiere. I originally tuned in specifically because of William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum (she has that amazing girl next door look!), and I was not disappointed. I was hoping that there would be more from Macy, but after the episode was over I'm actually thinking it would be best for the series if he was an absentee father and only appeared in each episode in a cameo type role. I'm sure future episodes will undoubtedly feature him, but it's kinda interesting having the patriarch be a minor character. More Emmy Rossum!

The second episode was painful to watch. Macy is just miscast, plain and simple. Everybody else, pretty much without exception, is a pretty good choice. But Macy... a very miscast role.

I totally disagree. I think Macy is carrying out the role perfectly. I find him believable as the drunken father who is swimming in booze and his own lot in life.

+1, besides the fact that it was written for Macy and the show likely wouldn't have been done without him. I also think he's perfect.

This was another great episode.

I like just about everything about this show.

I'd be curious to know why you believe that.

Because I've the seen the character played perfectly in the UK version. Macy is nowhere near as believable in the role.