Shameless/Trivia

• Acting for Two: This increases in frequency as the series goes on, and even includes several of the series' protagonists:
  • Karen Bryson, who plays Avril Powell (Series 8-11), was in the first episode of Series 5 as an alleged doctor who tells Frank that he's got aortic stenosis as revenge for her telling her ill husband to 'walk towards the light'.
    • Amusingly enough, Avril herself ends up actually working at the hospital.
  • Michael Taylor, aka Billy Tutton, originally played young chav Spider back in Series 4. The character is pretty much identical to Billy in all but name, and the ridiculous face tattoos he sports.
  • Fans since the early series were rather perplexed when they saw Moya Brady, who plays temporary Jockey manager Cassie Western in Series 3, playing crazy Muslim convert Ramona in Series 11.
  • A similar timeframe saw Robert Pugh, first appearing in Series 2 as scummy far-right politician Bernie Creme, returning in Series 10 as seedy magistrate Malcolm.
  • Paul Oldham shows up as three different characters throughout the series; a bailiff, a Frank and a gangster, all three equally as horrible and unlikeable as each other.
  • American Series: William H. Macy plays both Frank and Jerry Gallagher, identical twins. It's greatly subverted when the character is never seen again after the first season, but is referred and talked about.
• Hey, It's That Guy!:
  • Goku and Bulma are on and off again fuck buddies.
  • Ian's actor also played the part of an Enfant Terrible in one episode of Criminal Minds, a few years back.
  • Carl was in that film where he wants to be born now...
  • Freddie Rumsen found Christ.
  • Mandy moved to Chatswin.
  • No wonder why Frank wanted to lose off the loan sharks after his ass in season one. One of them was Theodore "T-Bag" Bagwell.
• The Other Darrin:
  • American Series: Jane Levy played Mandy in Season One, before departing the show for Suburgatory. Emma Greenwell replaced her starting with the second season.
• Romance on the Set: On the British series, James McAvoy (Steve) and Anne-Marie Duff (Fiona), reflecting the romance between their characters. They married after leaving the show and have a son together.
• Star-Making Role: For James McAvoy within the UK.
• Talking to Himself: The British Series: In one episode of Series 5, Sean Gilder played not only Paddy but also his estranged gay twin brother Noel, the characters often conversing in the same scene.
• What Could Have Been: The British Series: It looked like they were setting up Mark and Debbie to be another great Shameless romance a la Steve and Fiona: they even had them having sex in exactly the same spot that the aforementioned couple did in the very first episode of the very first seasons. Presumably, Series 7 was to feature the trials and tribulations of this new relationship that they'd spent so long in Series 6 dramatically building up. Unfortunately Rebecca Ryan left to join the cast of Waterloo Road, making those plots a pipe dream.