William H Macy

Have you ever imagined that Hollywood stars all grew up together and interacted even when they were younger, and well before they were famous? Well, in one neighborhood in Chicago, that's exactly what happened.

At least, that's what William H. Macy told Jimmy Fallon on 'Late Night' (Weeknights, 12:37AM ET on NBC).

If it's true -- and he says it's his story and he's sticking to it -- both the Cusacks and the Pivens lived nearby. So while he knew Jeremy Piven, it was at the Cusack household that he had more interactions.

"They would hire me to do light carpentry," he revealed, indicating that a set of shelves he built are still in that house.

In the mid-season premiere of 'Shameless' (Sun., 10PM ET on SHO) -- the Chicago-set black comedy adapted from the U.K. series -- Fiona (Emmy Rossum) has made a new, er, friend. And they're getting to know each other. Really getting to know each other.

Things are getting hot and heavy when there's a knock on the door. She stumbles upstairs; he answers the door, shirtless and panting.

It's the cops. They drag in a drunken man who has peed on himself. Who's the loser? Her father (William H. Macy).

William H. Macy is one of those unique actors who can adapt to any role he's given. Whether it be as Chief of Emergency Medicine on 'ER' or a salesman with cerebral palsy in the TV movie 'Door to Door'. Now, Macy will take on the role of father in a new Showtime drama series.

The subscriber movie channel (known more these days for its original programming) has picked up the series 'Shameless' from 'ER' and 'The West Wing' producer John Wells. A remake of an award-winning British drama, 'Shameless' will star Macy as an alcoholic, blue-collar father of a large Chicago family. The twist...after his wife leaves him, he ends up handing the parenting of the clan over to his eldest daughter, who will be played by actress Emmy Rosum.

For Wells, the production of 'Shameless' will be a reunion of sorts. Not only will he be reunited with Macy, whom he worked with when the actor played Dr. David Morgenstern on 'ER,' but he'll also work with former 'The West Wing' colleague Allison Janey, who will have a recurring role as Macy's wife.

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.

I told you back in May that William H. Macy had written and would star in a new series for TNT called Family Man. TNT has just given the greenlight to the pilot.

The quirky drama would focus on Macy's character, an upstanding citizen who also happens to be the leader of a group of burglars. The plot is revealed in "flash forward" mode with Macy's character, Todd Becker, imprisoned in the future. Along with his cohorts, Becker steals from major corporations and gives to charity. Ah, that's nice.

William H. Macy is set to star in the TNT series Family Man.

This is the third TNT project Macy has been involved with, having already co-written (with writing partner Steven Schachter) the Emmy-winning Door to Door and The Wool Cap.

Family Man, which Macy also wrote with Schachter, focuses on the life of a man who gives to charity but also steals from major corporations. According to Variety, the series is told in "flash forward" fashion in which we see Macy imprisoned in the future. Sounds like kind of a modern take on the Robin Hood story to me.

There's no word yet on when the series will air.

(S01E03) Writers are the most shameless, self-centered bastards in the world. We lie, we seduce, we'll steal your soul. Anything to look good on the page. -Sam Landry

I thought I had read every story from Nightmares and Dreamscapes, and I might have, but nothing about "Umney's Last Case" was familiar when I read it just recently. Nevertheless, it's not a bad story, and it's also very "meta" as the college kids like to say.

In the story, as in the TV adaptation, we begin in the 1930s where a grizzled private eye named Clyde Umney is leading a storybook life that he'll soon learn is more "storybook" than he realizes. He wields snappy dialogue with the precision of a trapeze artist, and always knows just what to say to get what he wants, at one point managing to turn two women to jelly in his office one after the other.

So let's get it out of the way right off the bat -- Wiiliam H. Macy and "Smokin" Joe Frazier are not even in consideration to be Homer's father in this episode, it's only Michael York. The other two are in the episode alright, but in other funny cameos. The "mystery" of Homer's past has been done a couple of times, in a couple of different ways, so this episode wasn't necessarily an "original" idea, but it was still pretty funny nonetheless. I think I may have finally put my finger on what's been missing from the show the past couple of years, and why it's suddenly funny again, but I'll get to that in the recap, for now -- On with the show!