William H. Macy is SHAMELESS When it Comes to SHOWTIME

Emmy(R) Award-Winner John Wells to Produce New One-Hour Drama Pilot

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- SHOWTIME and acclaimed Emmy®
Award-winning television and film producer John Wells (ER, THE WEST WING,
SOUTHLAND, THIRD WATCH, FARFROM HEAVEN, SHOWTIME's AN AMERICAN CRIME) are
bringing SHAMELESS, the long running British series to American television
starring Emmy® Award-winner and Oscar®-nominee William H. Macy (Door to Door,
Fargo, Pleasantville, The Cooler). Showtime has ordered a pilot for this
one-hour drama tracing the lives of a very unconventional family which will be
executive produced by Wells and the series' original creator and Emmy®
Award-winner Paul Abbott, one of Britain's most critically and commercially
successful television producers. The announcement was made today by Robert
Greenblatt, President of Entertainment, SHOWTIME Networks Inc. The pilot will
be shot in December.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060131/SHOWTIMELOGO )

"We are honored to be bringing arguably the best American and British
television producers together for this unique look at a very complicated
family," said Greenblatt. "And you've never quite seen dysfunctional family
drama this way before due largely to the fact that Paul Abbott lived it. And
this compelling look at a family teetering on the edge gets even better with
the extraordinarily gifted William H. Macy playing the father you wish you
never had."

John Wells said, "I'm delighted to be working with Showtime to adapt Paul
Abbott's controversial and thoroughly hilarious show for American audiences.
SHAMELESS is wildly politically incorrect and painfully honest. With one of my
favorite actors, Bill Macy, agreeing to join us, I can't wait to get started."

SHAMELESS is Abbott's (STATE OF PLAY, TOUCHING EVIL, RECKLESS, and CLOCKING
OFF) most personal work, inspired by his own complicated life growing up in a
working class family with eight children. For the U.S. version, the sprawling
Gallagher family has been transplanted to working class Chicago during the
challenging times of today's recession. Making ends meet is always difficult
especially with a mother who is AWOL and an alcoholic patriarch -- played by
Macy -- who usually ends up passed out on the living room floor. 18-year-old
daughter Fiona is left to the task of keeping her five younger brothers and
sisters on the straight and narrow, a task that usually proves impossible.

The pilot will be produced by John Wells Productions in association with
Warner Bros. Television.

About Showtime
Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation,
owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME®, THE MOVIE
CHANNEL(TM) and FLIX®, as well as the multiplex channels SHOWTIME® 2(TM),
SHOWTIME® SHOWCASE, SHOWTIME EXTREME®, SHOWTIME BEYOND®, SHOWTIME NEXT®,
SHOWTIME WOMEN®, SHOWTIME FAMILYZONE® and TMC XTRA. SNI also offers SHOWTIME
HD®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL HD(TM), SHOWTIME ON DEMAND(TM) and THE MOVIE CHANNEL ON
DEMAND(TM). SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture between SNI
and the Smithsonian Institution. All SNI feeds provide enhanced sound using
Dolby Digital 5.1. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events
for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME® PPV.

SOURCE Showtime Networks Inc.

Frank Marchesini, Showtime Networks Inc., +1-310-234-5342,
frank.marchesini@showtime.net