Since January 2004, the UK's Shameless has been bringing to life the story of a drunken working-class father and his nine children. Snippets of this long-running hit; going into its seventh season; have aired in the US on BBC America and Sundance. And for five years, it's been in development hell.The show has been tied to NBC, with Woody Harrelson in consideration for the lead role of Frank Gallagher, and more recently at HBO. Now, finally, original creator Paul Abbott and John Wells Prod. have signed a deal to bring Shameless to Showtime with William H. Macy in the lead.
For the US version, the family is now in modern-day recession-ridden Chicago, and Gallagher's brood has been reduced to six children, led by 18-year old Fiona. Mom is AWOL and William H. Macy's dad is more prone to passing out than parenting. I've never seen the UK original, but based on the premise, I think Macy could be a revelation in this role. He's amazing in his own right, and it's going to take that to make a neglectful, drunken father sympathetic.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-16-2009 @ 12:27AM
Paul said...
I heard Showtime has also exhumed Shakespeare and Joyce as a rationalization for their rewrites of Hamlet and Ulysses. I think they're getting Demi Moore to sign on as executive producer. They also plan on lighting a fire on the production of the remake of Farenheit 451.
Pick one:
"I trembling with anticipation."
or
"This is a terrible idea even though (genius) creator Abbott has been shopping the idea around."
Reply