Country of origin United States Original network Showtime | No. of episodes 12 | |
Original release January 13 (2013-01-13) – April 7, 2013 (2013-04-07) | ||
The third season of Shameless, an American comedy-drama television series based on the award-winning British series of the same name by Paul Abbott, premiered on January 13, 2013, at Sunday 9:00 p.m. EST on the Showtime television network. Executive producers are John Wells, Paul Abbott and Andrew Stearn, with producer Michael Hissrich. The season concluded after 12 episodes on April 7, 2013. The shows season premiere brought in 2.00 million viewers, becoming the show highest rated episode ever to-date. The episode airing February 17, "The Sins of My Caretaker", received 1.31 million total viewers, its lowest rated episode of the season. The season finale scored 1.82 million viewers.
Contents
Overview
Fiona adapts to life with Jimmy when he moves into the Gallagher house. Jimmy has more pressing concerns however when Estefania's father makes him an accomplice in murder and forces him into a worrying situation. He has more shocks in store when he discovers that his father is secretly gay and in a relationship with Ian. Mandy and Lip deal with problems in their relationship- has Lip really been able to let Karen go?- while Mandy secretly does Lip's college applications for him. Meanwhile, Mickey is out of prison and becomes jealous on seeing Ian with other men. Kev and Veronica have a lot on their plate when Kev's wife Cheryl arrives. But there is more heartache for the couple when they discover Veronica is infertile and are forced to take an alternate route to parenthood. Sheila and Jody adapt to new parenthood and all its challenges, while Sheila is unhappy with their sex life and seeks Frank's unlikely help in convincing Jody to be more adventurous in the bedroom. And in a shock move, the Department of Family Services removes the Gallagher children with the help of an unlikely person, leaving a heartbroken Fiona to enlist Frank's help in getting them back.
Development and production
On February 1, 2012, Showtime announced the series would be renewed for a third season. The show's third season began shooting on June 27, 2012 and premiered on Sunday, January 13, 2013.
Casting
Noel Fisher, Emma Greenwell and Zach McGowan have been promoted to series regulars for their roles as Mickey Milkovich, Mandy Milkovich and Jody Silverman. Laura Slade Wiggins was demoted to a recurring character for her role as Karen Jackson. After Karen gives birth to her son, Sheila and Jody decide to raise Karen's newborn son, Karen makes them choose between her and the baby so Karen decides to leave the house. Wiggins makes her first appearance back into the season in episode 7 titled "A Long Way From Home". Stephanie Fantauzzi, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Marguerite Moreau and Tyler Jacob Moore return in the third season as Estefania, Carol Fisher, Linda and Tony Markovich. Louise Fletcher appears as Peg Gallagher, the Gallagher's grandmother.