I've never seen the British original which I believe now runs four seasons (or five? or three?). But the American adaptation --- starring William H. Macy, as the alcoholic father, and Emma Rossum, as the eldest child in a family with seven foster kids (I lost count. I think it was seven...six?) --- is super engaging, well-acted, heart-tugging and realistic.
It's also very graphic with one of the actors doing frontal nudity and some sexually explicit scenes, including one with Emma Rossum and this guy (as pictured) whose name escapes me right now. But I'm sure he's going to become some sought-after TV heartthrob I'm gonna be reading about, a lot, in the coming months.
Anyway, Emma? She really was shameless! And I mean that in a good way. As in --- she tore her clothes off, exposed her breast, had her partner grab and eat those (for real!), pumped on the guy --- all for the sake of art. She really was convincing. And hot. And spicy. (And...yes, I am also shameless for saying she's spicy! :P)
There's only a handful of British remakes that do well on American TV. Something gets lost in translation between adaptions. But Shameless? Ticks all the right boxes.
While watching, I said out loud 3x --- "Oh, man...this is a good show!"
