Without giving too much away, during last night’s episode of Showtime’s Shameless, it briefly appeared that Jeremy Allen White’s Lip Gallagher might be leaving the show, and for the first time in ten seasons, I seriously considered quitting the show myself. I have loved Shameless for a decade (plus several more years, having watched the original British version), but losing Emmy Rossum and Jeremy Allen White in the same year was just too much to bear. I’d rather the show lose William H. Macy’s Frank Gallagher than Lip, because he’s been the soul of Shameless for several years now.
As it turns out, we probably don’t have to worry about Jeremy Allen White leaving Shameless this season. However, the entire cast will be packing it in after next year’s 11th season of the series, as Showtime has renewed the long-running drama while also giving it an end date. Interestingly, the final season will also air this summer, after the 10th season completes its run on January 26th, so there will be a lot of Shameless in our lives in 2020 but no more beyond this year. It joins Homeland as long-running Showtime series ending their tours this year.
From a press release quoting Gary Levine, president of entertainment for Showtime:
“It will be one last hurrah for the Gallaghers and their unique blend of love and lechery. John Wells and his gifted cast promise to take ‘Shameless’ out for a bang, and knowing Gallaghers we all as we all do, that is no idle threat.”
No other reason was given for ending the show after its 11th season. However, it’s time. There’s only so many ways that Frank Gallagher can destroy his body, and a decade into the series, we are well into another generation of Gallaghers. It’ll be good to see the series end while it still has most of its original cast (unlike the British version, which also ended after 11 seasons but barely resembled the original series when it began).
