277 replies to this topic

[goo]

I've recently started watching this show, of which season one was broadcast last year on UK's Channel 4 - and it's great.

Set on a Manchester housing estate, it follows a family with six kids, age 20 to about 3, and their feckless, alcoholic, on-again off-again father Frank. Frank lives up the road with his agoraphobic girlfriend Sheila, and mother Monica left the family years ago to live with Norma.

The writing is just brilliant - although the characters are violent, prone to crime and very often rude and dodgy as hell, this is the only show at which I have laughed out loud and then cried every episode. It walks the line between tragedy and comedy perfectly.

Any other fans out there?

Edited by goo, Jul 1, 2006 @ 4:52 AM.

[Hegel88]

We in Toronto just started to get the show a few weeks ago. I agree it is really funny and rude which I love. The only problem is, I have trouble understanding what they are saying because of the accents.

[squiggles]

We in Toronto just started to get the show a few weeks ago

I'm surprised this show is getting shown ouside of the UK because of the accents etc but I'm glad it is.

I have great love for Debbie and think that the young actress playing her is amazing.

[goo]

I watched the episode where she kidnapped 'little Jody' just the other day - ITA she was fantastic.

I'm glad this show is being aired outside the UK - I belive it also aired on SBS in Australia, too, earlier this year. Yay!

[JeanPoole]

Shameless starts airing in the USA on BBC America on Sunday, April 3rd.


Paul Abbott wrote it. James McAvoy is in it.

I'm so there.

[AKA]

And it's awesome. Thank you BBC America. I've been a David Threlfall fan for ages too, so that's nice. So it's going to be on Thursdays at 10?

By the by, there's an excellent interview in the NY Times with the writer (Paul Abbott) here.

Edited by AKA, Apr 4, 2005 @ 11:19 PM.

[Richyyy]

From the interview:

"It's almost like a foreign language," said John Wells, producer of "ER," who was so taken with "Shameless" he began negotiating to make the American version even before it was seen in Britain.

Even with the further information that Abbott is re-writing the pilot himself for the US, I'm still scared by what Wells could turn this show into when it's Americanised. Plus I don't want Abbott writing for the US - British drama has been pretty awful for the last several years bar stuff he's created (State of Play and Shameless).

Shameless is great, by the way, although I'm still unsure how it'll play in the US. It's very, very British. And if they try and cut out the swearing every episode will be approximately 30 seconds long.

[Amelie06]

I'm loving Shameless. I'm trying to get my friends to watch. James McAvoy needs to be the father of my child! Ok, I had to get that out of my system. Episode 2 last night was hilarious. I really like Steve. How hilarious is it that he put the Frank(?, alky father) on a ferry to France.

I'm surprised by how horrid, yet likeable all the characters are. Lip is great. I love the gay brother also. The strange little girl that is so high strung! I loved it both times that the oldest girl gave Steve the smackdown. Once when she literally beat his ass and again when she found out he was a med-school drop out who stole cars for fun. This is a great show and I hope we get to see the second season on BBC America.

I'm nervous about the news that this will be remade for America. I can't even imagine how much they will soften the characters. Drunk and mildly violent father will become a lovable dolt who will be going to AA by the third episode.

[JeanPoole]

I too fear an American adaptation, despite the fact that Abbott is on board to write the pilot. The humor on this show is distinctly aggressive and one doesn't always find a "heart of gold" in the drunks and demented on parade. It's coarse and harsh but funny as hell. I don't think an American network would get away with anything approaching this, maybe cable.

John Wells does have a history of treacle abuse so I'm not going to hold my breath.

Of course if McAvoy comes with it, I'll at least give it a try.

[DivaLee138]

I read the NYTimes article and made a point to catch the first episode. I love the characters and the grittiness and pace of the show. The accents are a bit harsh and hard to follow. I'm not sure how much was edited out for the BBC-America episodes, but I didn't feel like it was too watered down.

It's too early on in the season to know, but I hope the fact that there are so many storylines going on at once won't hinder the show's quality in general.

[Knots Landing]

This is a show I need to get on DVD. I love it! BTW, I'm also an America viewing it on BBCAmerica.

The show reminds me a little of 'Life As We Know It,' just grittier and much better. The relationship between Lip and Ian is also very similar.

Anyway, I can't read the Times article, but this is being remade for the US? WTF is up, lol. First Eastenders now this? Why don't they just show the original show? All these remakes are starting to bug me. Especially since they are never any good. The Office and COupling both disappointed me.

Next, with the Footballers Wives DVD release int he US, I'm sure they'll remake that...or Bad Girls (also released soon). Ugh!

[weyrbunny]

Damn!! I missed the first two episodes, and I had been looking forward to Shameless ever since I saw State of Play. (Stupid work/school/freelancing, how dare it interfere!</ot>) Oh well. I think BBC America is reshowing eps at the beginning of May.

I'm surprised by how horrid, yet likeable all the characters are.

This was my reaction too. I was struck by how humane the show is, how there's no overt judgement of the characters' behavior, how matter-of-fact it all was. Oddly enough, I kept thinking of The Wire.

The humor is growing on my too. The fact the Kev didn't take off the Fro (or wig, to be more politic) the morning after the bachelor party just made me chuckle.

And, glad to know that there are other James McAvoy fans out there. This has clearly been his month in American television. In addition to Shameless, I keep seeing the commercials for Children of Dune and I channelsurfed by PBS last week and there was McAvoy in an Inspector Linley (sp?) mystery. I am more impressed with his acting each time that I see him. And he's beautiful. Bonus.

[JeanPoole]

And, glad to know there are other James McAvoy fans out there.

I first noticed him in State of Play and have made it a point to check out his past...not in a stalking way, purely professional. (cough, cough)

McAvoy is also starring in the new BBC Shakespeare adaptations, akin to the Canterbury Tales. Apparently they'll do 4 plays and McAvoy will play another Mac: Macbeth. Keeley Hawes will be his bloody Lady M and the setting is a restaurant, nowhere near Scotland I presume. Set to air in the fall?

[Amelie06]

Shameless last night was great! Gabby is a scary little girl. I loved the elaborate plan they came up with. I was beyond horrified to see Frank and his son's girlfriend doin' it on the floor. I love how Steve become a part of the family and keeps involving himself in all of their insane schemes.

[pasteve]

I just finished watching Episode 5, where Lip figures out who his girlfriend has been with, and security cameras get installed at the mini mart.

It's difficult for me understand all the dialog, and there's Manchester slang on top of that, but the BBC America website has a glossary. As far as I can tell they only edit the F-word, leaving a lot of pretty descriptive language and a bit of skin in place.

What a great show. It's a very realistic blend of the ups and downs of life. I laugh out loud every episode, but there is always something which tugs at my heart strings. All the actors, even the kids, are brilliant.

I have been telling my friends to watch it, especially the Arrested Development fans.

[Ankai]

If they were to Americanise it, it would have to be on a premium cable channel, because there is no way that they could clean it up enough to put it on a network channel. I am surprised at how much BBC America can get away with, although censoring "fuck" can get a bit irritating while watching Trailer Park Boys, for example. A remake would probably suck anyways.

As for the slang and accents, maybe it is just me deluding myself, but I feel like I can understand most of it. Anything that I do not understand explicitly, I usually just imagine what they meant or let it slide by. I probably lose some of the more subtle meanings by doing that, but what can you do.

Was that the first time that we saw the wife?

I am kind of glad that Frank tried to stop with the daughter. That was all kinds of wrong. Well, his showing up at their house in the first place seemed a bit seedy to me even before I remembered that that woman was in the pilot episode.

[JeanPoole]

I have been telling my friends to watch it, especially the Arrested Development fans  -- pasteve

Me too, me too. And now that FUX has put AD on the wait 'n' see shelf, it doesn't look good.

This show simply can't be Americanis(z)ed. It would have to be completely rewritten to dance to a different beat. It's one of its strengths that is doesn't try to whitewash the Manchester lower class. It finds the tragic and the comic in every show and is one of the few shows that always makes me laugh out loud or catch my breath.

[abijah]

I missed the first two episodes on BBCAmerica, but have totally fallen in love with this show. I'll admit, I came for James, however I stayed for the whole dysfunctional mess.

For a midwestern gal whose an Anglophile at heart, the accents and slang may be my favorite part. Every time Frank says, "Debbie!" I cry with laughter. I even say it to myself in his accent and crack up.

The hardest part is knowing that series 2 has aired in the UK and that I haven't even finished 1. I've already googled the show and read a few spoilers, but I'm trying to reform my spoiler habits (Veronica Mars is making that really hard).

And what about Kash's wife? I was under the impression that she was Muslim too, but that theory was blown to hell last night. Can he not divorce her b/c of his mother? or he doesn't want to leave his kids? or is it all about his sexuality?

Edited by abijah, Apr 29, 2005 @ 8:54 PM.

[Peanutbuttercup]

I love this show, too. I'm getting better at understanding the actors - it was a struggle at first for me.
I'm also terrified about what will happen to this show if it gets Americanized. It just can't be the same, unless it's on HBO or something. As someone mentioned upthread, dad will turn out to be a loveable guy with a heart of gold who just needs to go to AA and start working on his 12 steps. Ian won't be gay and he certainly won't be having an affair with his 30-ish, married, male, Muslim boss. Instead, he'll be worried that people think he's gay because he spends so much time with his boss - but he'll actually be trying to expose his boss as an Al Qaeda member and earn his Boy Scout Patriot Act Merit Badge. And hilarity will ensue when people think, wrongly, that little Debby is a thief.
edited because I am still trying to get the names right.

Edited by Peanutbuttercup, Apr 29, 2005 @ 8:57 PM.

[max-murray27]

Damn!! I missed the first two episodes, and I had been looking forward to Shameless ever since I saw State of Play.

weyrbunny, abijah and everyone else, BBCA is having a marathon of the first six episodes a week from today, Saturday May 7. I live in the mountain zone and it starts at 11am for me, I think that's 1pm eastern.

I want to tape it because I have friends who I want to see this from the beginning.

I think this is the greatest show playing right now.

[floretbroccoli]

I think what I like most about this show is that I don't know where it's going. In most television (and movies) you can figure out what's going to happen. But here we have, say, Cash's wife finding out about her husband and Ian, and Ian doesn't even lose his job. I just can't guess where the whole season is leading.

I've been a Paul Abbott fan even before State of Play. He was one of the writers on the (original, British) Cracker and wrote Reckless, among other things.

And of course I'm a James McAvoy fan. White Teeth, State of Play. Anybody see Bright Young Things? Does he remind anyone else of Josh Charles?

The IMDb lists a Shameless Christmas Special. I know!

Edited by floretbroccoli, Apr 30, 2005 @ 5:43 PM.

[swansong]

So why did first Sophie and then Karen the daughter get so smitten with Frank?

I assume Sophie doesn't get out too much so a man literally landing on her doorstep must have seemed like manna from heaven even if it did come in the package of Frank. As for Karen I don't know. Maybe Frank's good in the sack and that's what turned her head.

But still sleeping with your girlfriend's teenage daughter, especially when she also happens to be your son's girlfriend? Pretty much wrong on every single level.

Edited by swansong, Apr 30, 2005 @ 8:52 PM.

[Ankai]

I'm not sure if Karen was really that into Frank as a person. She just struck me as a bit loose and unwilling to accept her mother's happiness. Frank's quite a dodgy character, so he went down the same path, even after he became really uncomfortable with the whole thing.

[Ripley]

I've been watching this since it premiered on BBC America, and I absolutely love it. The characters are sympathetic even when they are being right royal little shits. There is some fabulous writing on this show, my favorite being Frank's little epiphany about sleeping with his son's girlfriend last week: "I held him in my arms the day after he was born!" Brilliant.

[weyrbunny]

I'm still really enjoying Shameless though...is it getting darker with each episode? You wouldn't think that's possible, but each episode seems more emotionally wrenching than the last. Maybe it's just that the characters' emotions are so close to the surface; not a lot of self-censorship. Or impulse control. I'd been trying to think of shows with a comparable lack of impulse control, and Arrested Development did not come to mind. I'll be comparing the two from now on though.

Also, regarding the slang and vernacular, I enjoy it and I add my vote against americanization. This trend irritates me. I don't even like that the industry americanizes words in books like Harry Potter. Are they afraid readers/viewers will learn a new word?

I saw a blip online about Shameless/Paul Abbott winning various Best Drama awards in Britain within the last month. Good for them.

Oh, and the recurring bike theft cracks me up.

[Peanutbuttercup]

I'm really looking forward to the marathon this weekend. Hopefully I can catch some of the bits that I missed along the way. Was that supposed to be Ian and Kash in those pictures in the stockroom? Or just generic porn?

[Amelie06]

Lip just about broke my heart when he was crying for Gabbie to come out and help him. It was a really sweet scene and it reminded me of why this show works. I like that not everyone was willing to run off to meet the runaway mom. I also like that once they really thought about it, the anger set in. Fiona's freak out was awesome and spot on.

That cop is kind of pathetic. How many times does he have to be turned down before he just gives it a rest.

[JeanPoole]

Fiona's freak out was awesome and spot on.

WORD to that. She didn't overdo or underplay, just hit it note perfect.

It's now officially driving me crazy. Who played the mom and where have I seen her before?