Having watched (and enjoyed) the first four seasons of the British version of Shameless and seeing what Showtime had done in the first-season translation (they basically reproduced the first few episodes, much like the American’s The Office pilot had done with its British predecessor), it took me a long while to warm up to Showtime’s version. In fact, I quit on it after the first four episodes, and only returned on the advice of a lot of readers who insisted that it had improved.
They were right, and Shameless is now one of my favorite shows, a light and fun January series to leaven the other cable dramas like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead. There are no shocking twists, nor any devastating deaths, but Emmy Rossum gets naked sometimes, and William H. Macy is the best drunk since Otis Campbell.
The season three trailer is out now, and it promises more of the same. I’m OK with that. This January, I can get my shoot-out fix from Justified and Southland, but only Shameless will give us Emmy Rossum in her undies.
Shameless returns on January 13th.
