I didn’t see this thread when I posted this unnoticed OP – Shameless -- comparing U.K./U.S. pilot episodes - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board
So I’ll repeat my comments here:
I also recently found out that the main characters keep changing in the U.K. series. I’m skeptical that I would like that, especially since I find the current actors and their roles so engaging. I’d hate to see them constantly being phased out.
Which character did James McAvoy play?
McAvoy was Steve in the UK original. BTW, he and Anne-Marie Duff (who played Fiona in the UK original) became a real-life couple and are now married.
And I think the reason that the main characters in the original changed is because the show’s been on so long. It’s currently airing the eighth series.
Does the UK version have as much nudity as the US version?
I think so, although it’s been a while since I saw the early seasons.
For a total of only 95 episodes so far. From an American point of view, you should be able to carry your main cast that far without blinking an eye.
Steve and Fiona, who are arguably the main characters at the beginning, lasted only 13 and 18 episodes in the original. That wouldn’t even be considered a “main” character in an American series. Similarly: Kev and Veronica (only 27 episodes), Kash (19 episodes), Lip (35 episodes), Sheila (28 episodes).
It seems very weird to me that the characters that I’m growing to like in the beginning and appear in every episode would be written out so quickly.
We’re used to shorter series, and actors here are expected to be more versatile. Unless you’re in a soap opera you can’t just plug away at the same show year in year out. So it’s a balance between the actors wanting to do different things and the writers wanting the opportunity to bring in different characters (although saying that the reason I stopped watching was because the interesting ones had gone).
There’s shorter series, and then there’s writing out two of your main characters after one season. Surely, that’s not common in British TV?
Not really, but both Duff and McAvoy have very successful careers and I don’t think they wanted to be tied to one show.
So far in the U.S. version, Frank’s drunken monologues are of the teabagger/right-wing/racist/conspiracy theory type, and not particularly intelligent or literate. He does display some talent in the bullshitting arena, but it seems like most of the people around him are no longer fooled.
Frankly (!), I don’t think Frank needs to be “likable” for it to work.
On the most recent episode, the US Frank was sober because he was participating in a drug trial. He played the piano in the living room (a classical piece and a Billy Joel song, I think), to the surprise of his children.
I think the entire U.S. cast is leagues better looking than the U.K. one, except Fiona, maybe.
As others have stated, the Gallaghers don’t live in the “projects,” in the usual sense of the word. Usually the term “projects” refers to large government public housing built in the '60s and '70s. They live in a poor, probably historically Irish, neighbourhood of Chicago made up of old single-family houses. So, you could call it a slum.
And, by the way, it’s not far-fetched for there to be some project housing with white families.
He called her a “project girl,” but I don’t think he cared to be precise in his terminology.
Seriously? To an “actor’s actor” like Macy, this is a plum role. What actor wouldn’t love such juicy opportunities to completely ham it up? Good actors love playing “bad.”
I don’t think sobriety itself was making him manic. It was his desperation to distract himself from his craving combined with huge intakes of sugar. I suspect someone like Frank doesn’t eat a whole lot of actual food on a day-to-day basis and isn’t used to a sudden influx of sugar calories.
In the third episode, we learned that the house in which they live actually belonged to Aunt Ginger (the one whose Social Security checks Frank has been cashing). My guess is that Aunt Ginger owned it free and clear, so that partly explains their financial and housing situation.
Cool- we finally got to meet Mommy.
“You know how Dad’s a monumental fuck up? It turns out he’s the good one.”
Loved Frank’s attachment to Liam.
“You’ll take him over my dead body!”
“We’ll sign those papers.”
“Okay.”
Good episode. Nice seeing Julia Duffy again as well.
How in hell can Liam be Frank’s?
Just repeat to yourself “It’s just a show,I should really just relax”
Yeah, I’m :dubious: too.
The in-show explanation was that Frank’s mother had an affair, although I know that it’s an inplausible explanation. It seems to be an unnecessary complication for them to have added to the show.
Buying the house next door couldn’t have come at a better time.
It looks like the boom is lowered on Steve/Scott next week.
How is it that a person of Frank’s age and years of heavy alcohol abuse and bad nutrition is physically able to have so much sex?
Good writers.