the original British version is one of my favourite shows on TV and when i first heard that they were remaking it in the states, i like many others had serious doubts of it translating well, especially if you think of how glamorous American TV is and how unglamourous a show like shameless is. However i can safely say that John Wells and Showtime really have nailed it in adapting the show for the US audience. this can be said with how successful the show has been in America, which is great because it sort of mimics the same success the UK version had when it debuted in 2004. Despite there being some flaws, Showtime have overall done a terrific job in adapting shameless.
while the story lines for the first season are pretty much americanised versions of the first series of the British version, there are several episodes that have there own story lines and the whole of season 2 completely deviates from the British story lines, in fact while watching season 2, the show felt more of a completely different show rather than a remake. the acting from everyone is very good, especially from Emmy Rossum, Joan cusack and William Macy. the story lines that the US writing team come up with are generally very inventive and have that same tongue and cheek humour that the British series has. the chemistry between Lip and Ian as well as Fiona and Steve is one of the strongest aspects of the show. the music is also great and fits into the show well.
Now i am going to talk about the flaws of the show. even though i am from the UK and am not entirely familiar with American culture and how people live, there doesn't seem to be that much poverty to the show. the show just seems to be too glamorous and clean as opposed to the grittiness of the original UK version. another problem i have is William Macy as Frank. to me, David Threlfall IS Frank and while Macy isn't bad in the role, he just doesn't have that same quality that Threlfall delivers in the UK version. many fans of the UK version may also find the deviations in this version to be quite off-putting.
Overall, do i prefer this version to the original? the answer is No, i don't. while the acting, the story lines, the music and the overall feel to the show is great, this version just doesn't have the same spark as the original one has and i can also relate to the UK one more. if you are a fan of the UK version, you may find this remake hard to enjoy, however if you are able to ignore the fact that it is based on a British show and treat it as an entirely different show altogether, Shameless USA can be a very fun and entertaining show. if your American and haven't seen either version, then you probably will enjoy the US version more than the UK version.
while the story lines for the first season are pretty much americanised versions of the first series of the British version, there are several episodes that have there own story lines and the whole of season 2 completely deviates from the British story lines, in fact while watching season 2, the show felt more of a completely different show rather than a remake. the acting from everyone is very good, especially from Emmy Rossum, Joan cusack and William Macy. the story lines that the US writing team come up with are generally very inventive and have that same tongue and cheek humour that the British series has. the chemistry between Lip and Ian as well as Fiona and Steve is one of the strongest aspects of the show. the music is also great and fits into the show well.
Now i am going to talk about the flaws of the show. even though i am from the UK and am not entirely familiar with American culture and how people live, there doesn't seem to be that much poverty to the show. the show just seems to be too glamorous and clean as opposed to the grittiness of the original UK version. another problem i have is William Macy as Frank. to me, David Threlfall IS Frank and while Macy isn't bad in the role, he just doesn't have that same quality that Threlfall delivers in the UK version. many fans of the UK version may also find the deviations in this version to be quite off-putting.
Overall, do i prefer this version to the original? the answer is No, i don't. while the acting, the story lines, the music and the overall feel to the show is great, this version just doesn't have the same spark as the original one has and i can also relate to the UK one more. if you are a fan of the UK version, you may find this remake hard to enjoy, however if you are able to ignore the fact that it is based on a British show and treat it as an entirely different show altogether, Shameless USA can be a very fun and entertaining show. if your American and haven't seen either version, then you probably will enjoy the US version more than the UK version.