William H. Macy To Be SHAMELESS On Showtime

According to a report in Variety, Showtime has picked up "Shameless" starring William H. Macy for a 12-episode season. The show comes from Warner Bros. TV and John Wells Productions.

"Shameless," based on the long-running British drama, will see Macy as the "alcoholic patriarch of a large, unconventional, blue-collar family in Chicago."

Paul Abbott, creator of the original series, is executive producer of the Showtime adaptation along with Wells. "Shameless" is expected to go into production in late summer, 2010.  As of now, there's no word on a premiere date.

William H. Macy has appeared on Broadway in Our Town and Speed the Plow, replacing Jeremy Piven after leaving the production due to food poisoning.  Macy is a co-founder of the off-Broadway Atlantic Theater Company.  Credits with the company as a performer and director include American Buffalo, The Joy of Going Somewhere Definite, Three Sisters, and Boy's Life. He received an Oscar nomination for Fargo and won two Emmy Awards for starring in and co-writing the telefilm Door to Door. He has won the Screen Actors Guild Award, being nominated for nine Emmy Awards and seven Screen Actors Guild Awards in total. He is also a three-time Golden Globe Award nominee.  His film credits include: House of Games, Things Change, Homicide, Oleanna (playing a role he reprised after originating the role in the play of the same name), Wag the Dog, State and Main, Spartan, Benny & Joon, Above Suspicion, Mr. Holland's Opus, Ghosts of Mississippi, Air Force One, Boogie Nights, Pleasantville, Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho, Happy, Texas, Mystery Men, Magnolia, Jurassic Park III, Focus, Panic, Welcome to Collinwood, Seabiscuit, The Cooler, and Sahara.