Shameless USA vs UK: in pictures

A look at the differences between the British and American versions of Shameless.

William H Macy: The original Shameless series is genius

William H Macy and the rest of the Shameless US cast reveal whether they think unglamorous sex and non-stop drinking are a recipe for a Stateside hit, as the infamous Gallaghers prepare to be reincarnated in Chicago.

Shameless production firm All3Media may be sold

Television production company responsible for hit shows such as Skins and Shameless is drawing interest from Apollo and Sony.

How Shameless stars came of age on West End stage

Maxine Peake and Anne-Marie Duff are among many stars whose careers began on the show. And a pair of casting directors were vital to its success, writes Vanessa Thorpe.

Shameless may be filming wedding in a cemetery

Gobby Shameless drug dealer Mimi Maguire enjoys what looks like a fairytale wedding - in a cemetery.

Shameless star Alice Barry: From brothel to B&B

Alice Barry looks out of the front room window of her Blackpool bed & breakfast. "I stand here and watch the stag and hen parties walk into town," she says. Alice likes to see the revellers pass by but never invites them in.

Shameless Lillian Tyler nose she's a Beauty

Shameless madam Lillian Tyler trades red roses for red noses as she recreates the famous scene from classic movie American Beauty.

As Dick Dale's Misirlou bursts on to the soundtrack, idiotic twosome Shane and Kelly embark on what we are led to believe is a Pulp Fiction-type crime spree. The dense duo kidnap a woman as she works in the vast front garden of her posh house, and keep her prisoner in a Maguire family bedroom. Though none of this is what it seems, as soon becomes painfully clear, particularly when balloon-brained Shane has to act the tough guy. The Chatsworth estate is rapidly crawling with police officers, as the missing woman has some very important connections, and the episode descends into elaborate farce. Meanwhile, at the floundering local shop, sensible Sita becomes suspicious of Chesney's "driving school" for young Muslim women, and she makes a disturbing discovery. It's pretty much a typical Shameless week, with something to offend everybody.

Shameless star Pauline McLynn quits show

Shameless star Pauline McLynn left her role at the end of last year. Channel 4 bosses have tried to keep the news under wraps, but the revelation that she had left emerged after the actress spoke in interviews of her "difficult year".

A quick check on the credits revealed that he had no hand in this week's bizarre Shameless episode. But the master director's surreal hand was all over a scene featuring erotic dance choreography created by a man with an electric voicebox. On the other hand, boy-man Carl Gallagher stripping off with a hosepipe to the libidinous strains of Barry White (calm yourselves, he was washing a car) was pure soft porn.

Shameless is shameless when it comes to the art of ripping off genres, yet it does so with shiny aplomb.