From Amazon.com:

This "top (effen) notch" BBC series is set in a Manchester, England, public-housing project where the Gallagher clan gets by with a little help from their friends and each other. They certainly can't count on Frank (David Threfall), their on-the-dole dad, whose time around the house is mostly spent drunkenly passed out on the floor. Mom abandoned them years before. That leaves Fiona (Anne-Marie Duff), the eldest daughter, to be surrogate parent and help make the best of their hardscrabble lives in a place that, Frank observes, will never be mistaken for the Garden of Eden. The seven episodes that comprise the first series are a riot of family dysfunction. Cheeky oldest brother Lip (Jody Latham) discovers his younger sibling, Ian (Gerard Kearns), is gay and is having an affair with the local Muslin grocer. He enlists his girlfriend, Karen (Rebecca Atkinson), to initiate Ian (to no avail). Karen's agoraphobic mother, Sheila (Maggie O'Neill) is married to a religious fanatic, who abandons them after he discovers his daughter's sinful ways, opening the door for Frank to move in (and juggle clandestine affairs with both mother and daughter). Meanwhile, Fiona meets Steve (James McAvoy), a nice guy and prosperous car salesman (too bad the cars are stolen).

Lending the Gallaghers a hand is neighbor Veronica (Maxine Peake), fiercely loyal and protective and a ferocious force of nature. One of her sidelights is ironing topless for the benefit of horny Internet viewers. Frank says it best when he asks at one point, "Is anyone around here normal?" Written by Paul Abbott, Shameless has the same gritty setting and generous spirit as Mike Leigh's Life Is Sweet. Prodigious use of the F-word and some fleeting full-frontal nudity notwithstanding, Shameless, would feel at home on American basic cable. The optional subtitles are recommended to make better sense of the thick accents and slang. --Donald Liebenson


Just finished Season 1 today and I love this show! It's hilarious! I wish there was news of when Season 2 would make its way to DVD in the US. Maybe I'll download it if I can find it with english subtitles. The accents are very thick and without subtitles it would likely be hard to understand.

Skins is better.

Um, did anyone watch the first season of the US version on Showtime? The season finale was last night.

Anyways, it's absolutely incredible and my favorite new show of the season. Emmy Rossum is absolutely FLAWLESS on it. I cannot say enough about how phenomenal her performance has been week after week. She is really the heart and soul of the show and is perfect at being equally charming and heartbreaking. The scene between her and her mother in episode 10 absolutely wrecked me, and I thought her decision in the season finale perfectly fit her character and her motherly devotion to her siblings.

You should watch the original .

I watched the finale last night. It was pretty good. Though not the best episode. And Frank's rants have gotten a bit annoying, hopefully they change him somehow next season.

I thought Shameless US was pretty damn good. The pilot was OK, but by the third episode I was totally into the show. I'd definitely check out the UK version - but I've read these were pretty much rehashes of the same plots, so I don't want to bother. I don't see UK version being much better (if really) than his. This was such an enjoyable briskly paced show.

I thought of opening a thread for it, but it seems like on average two people here watch a Showtime show.

The best episode was definitely the one where their mother came back, at least IMO.

I thought the finale was very satisfying. I liked that it didn't necessarily have a lot of huge cliffhangers. It was a nice book-end to season 1.

And I feel the same way about the UK version, although I know one major difference that will definitely make season 2 a mostly original incantation

I wish Season 2 of the original would get released in the US. I don't understand why it hasn't. Maybe I'll just start watching the US version.

You should. It's AMAZING. Maybe the best scripted drama on the air at the moment.

The Mickey character on the US version is really ugly. Not like the guy who plays him in the British version. I hope his character won't last.