John Corbett, Toni Collette, Keir Gilchrist, and Brie Larson, United States of Tara Showtime and is worth a watch for die-hard fans who are curious about the roots of Shameless. It's a completely different series that deals with completely different themes, but it was pretty highly acclaimed in the U.K. The series, which also ran for 11 seasons, is set in Manchester instead of Chicago, and takes its characters to places fans of the American adaptation probably wouldn't recognize the character of Karen Jackson (played here by Rebecca Atkinson) is a much bigger, longer-lasting presence in this Shameless, while Fiona ( Anne-Marie Duff) and Steve (a pre-international fame James McAvoy) depart after the second season. But aside from character names, their portrayals of poverty, and both shows having essentially identical first seasons, the British Shameless is very much its own separate animal. Did you know Shameless was originally based on a British show of the same name? Yup, there's a whole other unhinged Gallagher family in the U.K.
