shameless

['Shameless' - 'Three Boys']

Ain't no wedding like a 'Shameless' wedding -- perverted priests, drunken guests, arson in the bathroom and a romantic bar setting. What more could any blushing bride wish for on the day of her fake nuptuals?

Yes, this week's 'Shameless' had a lot going on (and as a result, proved to be one of the most entertaining episodes yet). In addition to Kev and Veronica's sham marriage, we were also introduced to Frank's "three boys" and V's bipolar brother, Marty, two acquaintances we won't soon forget.

'Shameless' already has its share of feisty females, but the Showtime drama is about to get one more.

Amy Smart ('Crank,' 'Smith') will appear in the final two episodes of the show's first season as Jasmine, a new friend of Fiona Gallagher (Emmy Rossum). Fiona is the oldest sibling in the large Gallagher family, which is headed by the frequently inebriated Frank (William H. Macy). Despite taking on much of the responsibility for caring for her siblings, Fiona also has an active social life and her new friend Jasmine wants to be part of it.

Jasmine, according to Showtime, is someone Fiona knows from the neighborhood, but she's older than Fiona (in this recent interview, Rossum said Fiona's around 21). Jasmine has a daughter who is in the same class at school as Fiona's little sister, Debbie.

There are a lot of upsides to playing Fiona Gallagher, as far as 'Shameless' star Emmy Rossum is concerned.

She gets to act alongside a top-notch cast that includes William H. Macy, who plays ne'er-do-well alcoholic Frank Gallagher, the head of a hardscrabble Chicago family with many kids but little money. The tough, spontaneous Fiona, who assumed much of the responsibility that Frank abandoned, is not remotely like the "princessy" roles she's played in the past, Rossum noted.

"I get cast 'princessy' a lot, and this is so down and out and edgy and not princessy. I really, really enjoy it. This is much more fun," said Rossum. "As an actor, it's very liberating to not have hair and makeup."

['Shameless' - 'Casey Casden']

It's quickly becoming apparent that 'Shameless' is, above all else, a cautionary, moralistic tale. ( ... Isn't it?)

Each week, those roguish Gallaghers impart important lessons about what not to do in our everyday lives, such as stealing a baby from someone's front yard, or pretending that you're engaged just to dissuade someone from hitting on you.

Sure, sometimes these spiraling deceptions can end up in your favor, with a wad of cash and status as a local hero for your sins, but more often than not, they simply snowball out of control until you find yourself obliged to marry your girlfriend even though you've already got a wife. Oh, what tangled webs we weave ...

['Shameless' - 'Aunt Ginger']

I've got to say, I'm impressed at the how thoroughly 'Shameless' is living up to its name. Episode 3 marked the first example of the US series diverging from its UK namesake for a twisted new plot, and this one's a doozy. If crossdressing homeless men, social security fraud and kidnapping old ladies aren't the epitome of shamelessness, I don't know what is.

Frank had an ... eye-opening experience with Sheila last week, but that clearly wasn't enough to chase him back to the loving arms of his freezing family -- he was having way too much fun playing house with his neurotic girlfriend and long-suffering Karen to worry about gas bills or a little thing like government officials turning up at his door.

Have you had a chance to catch 'Shameless' (Sundays, 10PM ET on Showtime)? If not, maybe the charming cast will convince you to give it a shot.

I caught up with stars William H. Macy (who plays drunk patriarch Frank Gallagher), Emmy Rossum (who plays his oldest daughter Fiona) and Justin Chatwin (her "stage-five clinger" of a boyfriend) to talk all about the Gallagher family dramas. Yes, you could say they're unconventional. And sure, their lives teeter on depressing every now and then. But there's more funny than sad, and you can't deny that the attitudes of the characters -- much like the stars themselves -- really win you over.

Watch to get a sneak peek at what's to come for Fiona and Steve -- including some more lies, some cheating and a little physical violence -- and Frank and his lady love, played by the fabulous Joan Cusack.

['Shameless' - 'Frank the Plank']

For those of us wondering how 'Shameless' could possibly shock us after last week's eye-opening season premiere, episode two certainly proved enlightening -- it opened with an apt demonstration of Frank's reprehensible parenting skills, and closed with what we can only describe as karmic payback for said reprehensible parenting skills.

Even in an episode focused on Frank, the kids once again provided the most compelling moments for me -- from Debbie's guileless loyalty to her layabout father, to Lip's words of wisdom, it's clear that the heart and soul of 'Shameless' is in its junior cast members.

['Shameless' - 'Pilot']

As you might have heard, adapting a successful UK series for a US audience is a risky business -- maybe you tuned in to Showtime's other new Sunday series, 'Episodes,' which illustrates the pitfalls of such an endeavor all too well.

Adaptations are often criticized either for being too slavishly faithful to the original, or for deviating so far from the source material as to make the new version practically unrecognizable, which leaves a decidedly narrow margin for success somewhere between the two extremes. Somehow, 'Shameless' manages to walk that tightrope with surprising confidence.

Though I'm British, I never watched the UK series, but decided to check out the original pilot after seeing Showtime's interpretation, just for the sake of comparison. While the US 'Shameless' undoubtedly falls into the 'slavishly faithful' category of remakes, this actually seems to work in the show's favor, transplanting a practically identical script to an American setting and miraculously managing to improve upon its predecessor.

Once upon a time, premium cable was kind of a one-trick pony. HBO was the go-to channel for original, risk-taking programming without the strictures and irritating commercial interruptions of broadcast network TV, and other pay-cable networks just couldn't rival HBO's subscriber base, impressive production budgets or awards season glory.

Thankfully, this is no longer the case, with both basic cable networks (like AMC and FX) and smaller, edgier premium channels (like Showtime and Starz) having stolen the spotlight from their pay-cable granddaddy over the past few years.

This Sunday, Showtime is debuting two of its most buzzworthy new series -- Matt LeBlanc's triumphant return to TV, the single-camera comedy 'Episodes,' and dysfunctional family drama 'Shameless,' starring William H. Macy. And, to sweeten the deal, the network is offering a free preview weekend from Jan. 7 through Jan. 10, so that 60 million homes will have the opportunity to get hooked on the new shows without subscribing. Three excellent reasons to predict that 2011 might be Showtime's strongest year yet; join us after the jump for more!

According to Emmy Rossum, knowing an actor prior to working with them doesn't necessarily make things easier. This is especially the case with friend Justin Chatwin, who plays her love interest on 'Shameless,' she said on 'The Early Show' (weekdays, 7AM ET on CBS).

'Shameless' (10PM ET Sunday, Showtime) is hard to categorize, and that's just one of the things that makes this promising drama a risky endeavor.

Showtime is betting that people who shell out for premium cable will want to watch the story of a poor family struggling to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors, and that's a big bet.

There's nothing aspirational about the lifestyle of the Gallagher clan; viewers won't be getting a glimpse of an exotic or somehow enviable way of life (hey, even Dexter gets to live in Miami). As is the case with most meaty cable dramas, there doesn't appear to be a substantial season-long arc building in the first season. The stories that keep things perking along -- and 'Shameless' certainly isn't short of energy -- involve the scams and dodges that somehow put food on the table one day at a time.

Despite all that, 'Shameless' may be a keeper. The performances by William H. Macy as unapologetic drunk Frank Gallagher, Emmy Rossum as his eldest child, Fiona, and Joan Cusack as an eccentric neighbor are richly rewarding, and the show's British creator, Paul Abbott, and American adaptor, John Wells, have made sure of one thing: This isn't a tale full of woe and sorrow.

William H. Macy has embraced one hell of an acting challenge.

In the new drama 'Shameless,' which premieres Sunday on Showtime, he plays Chicagoan Frank Gallagher, the working-class father of six independent-minded kids.

The kids have had to grow up fast, because their mom left a few years ago and Frank isn't exactly working. He's an alcoholic. When he can be found in the family home, he's usually passed out on the floor.

"When you have an addicted parent, it does make the rest of the family coalesce," Macy said in a recent interview on the show's Chicago set. "They've got to look after each other. I think Frank's left-handed gift to his family is that they look after each other."

Macy's gift is making Frank someone you want to watch, no matter how self-serving and inept he is as a parent and as a man. It's hard to think of any other actor who could have made Frank appealing, but Macy gives Frank, who is modeled on the no-account father in a hit British TV series of the same name, an irrepressible joie de vivre and even a wily charm.

Happy New Year! I hope 2011 is treating you right so far.

For those of us covering TV, the new year ushered in one of the busiest mid-seasons in recent memory. A lot of new shows are debuting, many notable shows are returning and Ryan McGee and I tried to cover quite a few of early January's offerings in this week's super-sized Talking TV with Ryan and Ryan podcast.

We gave our impressions of 'V' (and you can find my season 2 review of that ABC show here), 'Southland,' 'Downton Abbey,' 'Bob's Burgers,' 'Shameless,' 'The Cape' and Matt LeBlanc's new Showtime series, 'Episodes.' Just for fun, we also talked a bit about the recent 'Doctor Who' special that aired on Christmas Day.

Please note that in the next few days, I'll be posting full reviews of many of these programs (though not for 'Bob's Burgers' or 'Southland'). Read on for the running times of the various podcast dicussions, and also for news on notable reruns beginning this week.

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).

A recent visit to the set of 'Shameless,' the Chicago-set drama that premieres Jan. 9 on Showtime, held a few surprises.

William H. Macy, Joan Cusack and Emmy Rossum and the rest of the show's cast spent last week on Chicago's West Side, filming exterior season for the first season of the show, which is mostly shot in Los Angeles. On the drama, which is an adaptation of a well-regarded U.K. TV series, Macy plays Frank, the sozzled patriarch of the Gallagher clan, Rossum plays his eldest daughter, Fiona, and Cusack plays their agoraphobic neighbor, Sheila.

The cast was in fine form and there was no drama except when the cameras were rolling. No surprises there.

The biggest 'Shameless' shock? The fact that it was about 70 degrees and sunny all week long as the cast and crew filmed scenes set in the depths of a Chicago winter. The guy in charge of fake-snow replenishment was kept very busy tossing the white stuff on the streets and sidewalks between takes.

Another surprise? Running into Robert Knepper, a.k.a. T-Bag from 'Prison Break' on the 'Shameless' set. He's guesting in a couple of episodes as a goon sent to get money from Frank. That's Macy, with Knepper on foot in the background, in the photo at right.