Development
Shameless was adapted from a long-running, award-winning British television comedy drama of the same name. [6] HBO began developing an American version of Shameless after striking a deal with John Wells in January 2009. [7] By April of that year, development had moved to Showtime. John Wells Productions taped a pilot episode for the cable network in December 2009. [8] [9] The show's creator Paul Abbott said, "It's not My Name Is Earl or Roseanne. It's got a much graver level of poverty attached to it. It's not blue collar, it's no collar." [9] Showrunner John Wells fought efforts to place the show in the South or in a trailer park. "We have a comedic tradition of making fun of the people in those worlds," he said. "The reality is that these people aren't 'the other'—they're people who live four blocks down from you and two blocks over." [9]
William H. Macy stars in the lead role as Frank Gallagher, joined by Emmy Rossum as Fiona and Justin Chatwin as Steve, former co-stars from Dragonball Evolution . [10] [11] Paul Abbott, whose semi-autobiographical telescript was the basis for the British pilot, is credited as an executive producer on the American version. [9]
In April 2010, Showtime green-lit the series with a 12-episode order. [12]
Before William H. Macy took the role, Woody Harrelson was originally considered to play the character Frank Gallagher in the 2010 remake. [13]
The Sheila Jackson character (a romantic interest for Frank), was first portrayed by Allison Janney in a pilot; however, in late August 2010, the role was recast and Joan Cusack ended up playing Sheila for the aired episodes. [14] Production began in mid-September. [14]
A preview of the pilot aired on December 12, 2010, after the Season 5 finale of Dexter . The first season officially began airing on Showtime on Sunday, January 9, 2011. [15]
The series is set in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood on the South Side. [16] [17] [18] The house that the Gallaghers call home is an actual house in an actual Chicago neighborhood and has been visited by fans. [19]
Most episodes begin with one of the main characters breaking the fourth wall to berate the viewer about missing previous episodes. Then the show cuts to a recap montage of plot points relevant to the current episode, followed by the opening title sequence.
Filming
The series is mostly filmed at a Los Angeles studio, with some scenes filmed in Chicago. [20] Despite most of the filming being done in California, most of the houses and other notable locations can actually be found in the Southside of Chicago, Illinois. [21] Initial shooting of the second season began on July 5, 2011 and premiered January 8, 2012. [23] The series was renewed for a third season on February 1, 2012, [24] and initial shooting began June 27, 2012. The third season premiered on January 13, 2013, and two weeks later on January 29, Shameless was renewed for a fourth season. [26] It premiered January 12, 2014. On February 18, 2014, the series was renewed for a fifth season. [27] Production on the first episode of the fifth season began on July 3, 2014 with the first episode table read, [28] with initial shooting for the season beginning on July 8, 2014. [29] [30] The series was renewed for a sixth season on January 12, 2015. [31] Shameless was renewed for a 12-episode seventh season on January 12, 2016. [32] Season 7 premiered on October 2, 2016.
In December 2016, it was reported that Emmy Rossum, after multiple seasons of being paid significantly less than her co-star William H. Macy, requested that she be paid equally and compensated in future seasons to make up for the previous salary discrepancies. The equal pay negotiations, which were vocally supported by her co-star Macy, [33] briefly delayed work on an eighth season of the series while she and Warner Bros. Television negotiated. The dispute came to an end on December 14, when Rossum confirmed through Twitter that she would continue to work on the series, with production of an eighth season to begin in May 2017. [34] On December 19, 2016, Showtime officially announced that Shameless had been renewed for an eighth season. [35] Just days after the eighth season premiere, it was announced that the show had been renewed for a ninth, which would bring the show past the 100-episode mark. [36] [37]
In August 2018, Rossum announced her departure from Shameless after nine seasons playing Fiona Gallagher. [38] In October 2018, Cameron Monaghan also announced his departure from the series after playing Ian Gallagher for nine seasons; however, it was later announced Monaghan was expected to return for the tenth season. [39]
On January 13, 2020, it was announced that the series had been renewed for its eleventh and final season, which had been scheduled to air in summer 2020 but was then delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that Macy, White, Cutkosky, Hampton, Howey, Kenney, Monaghan, Fisher, Miner, and Isaiah would all return for the series' final season. [40] Production on the final season commenced on September 8, 2020. [41] Production for the final season ended on March 12, 2021.
Music
The theme song for Shameless is "The Luck You Got" by indie rock group The High Strung. The majority of the music featured in the series is from indie rock bands. The pilot episode used music from artists such as Cream, Spoon, Say Hi, 3OH!3, The Vines, The Moog, and LMFAO. [42] The show has also featured music from Let's Wrestle, Eels, The Blue Van, Cake, Jimmy Eat World, Alien Crime Syndicate, Capital Cities, Future Islands, The Fleeting Ends, Witchrider and Johnny Foreigner.
In promotion for the second-season premiere, the entire cast sang their own version of a Christmas carol, entitled "Shameless: Christmas Carol". [43] [44] [45]
