I just watched the pilot episodes of the U.S. and U.K. versions of Shameless. I have seen no other episodes of either series, so I’m requesting that any plot developments be spoiler-boxed.
My initial reaction is that I see a lot of potential for this show. However, something which is very strange for someone like me who is addicted to U.K. TV shows and movies – I prefer the U.S. version by a lot more.
I was trying to puzzle out why I preferred it to the original, and I came up with some factors.
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The U.S. version features some of my favourite character actors, such as William H. Macy, Joan Cusack, and Joel Murray.
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Overall, the U.S. cast has much better acting chops than the U.K. cast – especially evident in the Lip/Ian scenes in the pilot episode (which was almost shot-for-shot identical to the orginal). The American Lip and Ian are played by much much better actors than the British ones.
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The U.S. version has Marguerite Moreau and Shanola Hampton, who are about 500 percent more gorgeous than any woman who has appeared on television in the past 15 years.
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I just don’t buy James McAvoy at all. He looks like a skinny little adolescent punk. And he’s ugly as sin.
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I have developed an unfortunate prejudice against Manchester accents, probably from my exposure to Karl Pilkington and Lunch Monkeys. Every time I hear someone speak with that voice, I just want to kick them in the head. Other North of England accents don’t strike me that way at all. I’m fine with Liverpool, Geordie, and Yorkshire accents, for example.