Chicago and Burbank · Showtime · 2011–2021

Shameless

2100 S3400 W

The show says the Gallaghers live in Canaryville, on the South Side. Chicago’s numbers say otherwise. Every address here is a distance from State and Madison, and the house is on the West Side.

The house is where the story puts it: Canaryville, around 4400 South on Halsted, 800 West.

William H. Macy smiling, grey-blond hair swept back, in a dark jacket — William H. Macy at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2012, between the second and third seasons. gdcgraphics · CC BY-SA 2.0

Emmy Rossum smiling, hair pinned up, in a dark sequinned top — Emmy Rossum in December 2011, the year Shameless began. MingleMediaTVNetwork · CC BY-SA 2.0

800 to the mile, from State and Madison

Read the corner.

Chicago numbers its streets outwards from one crossing in the Loop, State Street and Madison Street, at about eight hundred to the mile. Read a sign and you know where you are. Turn this one to each place the show used.

Where we read it

The grid starts at State Street (east and west) and Madison Street (north and south); house numbers run at generally 800 to a mile. The city adopted Edward P. Brennan’s system on 22 June 1908. Grid numbers of listed streets: Homan 3400 W, Kedzie 3200 W, Halsted 800 W, Racine 1200 W, Michigan 100 E, Roosevelt 1200 S, Cermak 2200 S, Pershing 3900 S, Irving Park 4000 N, Lawrence 4800 N; Broadway is a diagonal with no grid number. Numbers marked “about” are placed between listed streets.
Wikipedia: Roads and expressways in Chicago (the address grid)

The Gallagher house. 21 blocks south and 34 blocks west of State and Madison.

A Pink Line train running past brick houses at sunset — A Pink Line train pulls into Kedzie at sunset, North Lawndale. The Gallagher block is a few streets west; this is the neighbourhood, not the house. Jonathan Lee from Chicago, IL, USA · CC BY 2.0

2100 block of South Homan Avenue, North Lawndale

The Gallagher house

A real house on the 2100 block of South Homan Avenue plays the Gallagher home; most of the show is shot at a studio in Los Angeles.

A real house on the 2100 block of South Homan Avenue plays the outside of the Gallagher home. A real family lives in it.

The show puts the Gallaghers in Canaryville, on the South Side. The house is in North Lawndale, on the West Side.

A family’s home. Look from the pavement across the street, briefly; don’t go up to the porch or knock.

Where we read it

South Side or West Side

Move the house.

On the show the Gallaghers live in Canaryville, the old stockyards neighbourhood around Halsted Street. The house that plays their home is 23 blocks north and 26 blocks west, in North Lawndale. Canaryville has no L at all; on the show the trains are always there. On Homan, the Pink Line is two blocks away.

0of 49 blocks

The house is where the story puts it: Canaryville, around 4400 South on Halsted, 800 West.

Where we read it

The show sets the Gallaghers in Canaryville; the real house is in North Lawndale; Canaryville has no L cars running through it, though the trains are ever present on the show.
DNAinfo Chicago: Shameless’ Canaryville? Not exactly (11 January 2013)DNAinfo Chicago: Shameless films in North Lawndale and Lakeview (12 February 2014)
Canaryville runs from Pershing Road to 49th Street and centres on Halsted Street; the middle used here is 4400 South, 800 West.
Wikipedia: Canaryville, Chicago
Grid numbers: Homan 3400 W, Kedzie 3200 W, Halsted 800 W, Pershing 3900 S. The 49 blocks are counted along the grid.
Wikipedia: Roads and expressways in Chicago (the address grid)

Where the story says

A limestone triple-arched gate with a steeply pitched copper roof — The Union Stock Yard Gate on Exchange Avenue, at the edge of Canaryville. Peter Fitzgerald · CC BY-SA 4.0

Exchange Avenue at Peoria Street, New City

Union Stock Yard Gate

Canaryville, where the story is set, runs from Pershing Road to 49th Street and centres on Halsted Street, inside New City.

Its name may come from the sparrows that fed in the stockyards and the railway wagons in the late 1800s.

The Union Stock Yards were here from 1865 until they closed in 1971.

Burnham and Root designed the gate, built in 1879. The bull’s head over the central arch is Sherman, a favourite of the yards’ superintendent. It has been a National Historic Landmark since 1981.

A landmark on a public street at the edge of Canaryville. Walk through the arch; nothing was filmed here.

Where we read it

Where the L really is

An elevated station platform with canopy and station sign — The Pink Line platform at Kedzie, the nearest station to Homan Avenue. Jacob G. from Chicago, Ilinois, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0

1944 South Kedzie Avenue, North Lawndale

Kedzie, on the Pink Line

Kedzie opened on 10 March 1902 on the Douglas Park branch and was rebuilt between 2002 and 2004. It serves Lawndale on the Pink Line’s Cermak branch.

In August 2018 members of the cast were seen filming along the Pink Line.

Kedzie Avenue is 3200 West and Homan Avenue 3400 West: two hundred numbers apart, a quarter of a mile at 800 to the mile.

An elevated Pink Line station, open to anyone with a fare. Ride west from the Loop and the Gallaghers’ part of town goes past the window.

Where we read it

Homan, Trumbull, Spaulding, 19th Street

The block.

Five houses on three West Side streets play the Gallaghers’ world. People live in all of them. They are named here by their streets, kept off the map and shown by their neighbourhood, never by the house.

A Pink Line train pulls into Kedzie at sunset, North Lawndale. The Gallagher block is a few streets west; this is the neighbourhood, not the house. Jonathan Lee from Chicago, IL, USA · CC BY 2.0
2100 block of South Homan Avenue
The Gallagher house
A real house on the 2100 block of South Homan Avenue plays the outside of the Gallagher home. A real family lives in it.
A family’s home. Look from the pavement across the street, briefly; don’t go up to the porch or knock.
Where we read it
A Pink Line train pulls into Kedzie at sunset, North Lawndale. The Gallagher block is a few streets west; this is the neighbourhood, not the house. Jonathan Lee from Chicago, IL, USA · CC BY 2.0
2100 block of South Homan Avenue
Kevin and Veronica’s house
A house a few doors down the same block plays Kevin and Veronica’s home, one of the show’s recurring Chicago exteriors.
A family’s home. Look from the pavement across the street, briefly; don’t go up to the porch or knock.
Where we read it
The Pink Line at Kostner Avenue, North Lawndale, in March 2014. A view of the neighbourhood, not of any house used in the show. Jonathan Lee from Chicago, IL, USA · CC BY 2.0
1900 block of South Trumbull Avenue
The Milkovich house
A house on the 1900 block of South Trumbull Avenue plays the Milkovich home, another of the recurring exteriors.
A family’s home. Look from the pavement across the street, briefly; don’t go up to the porch or knock.
Where we read it
The garden gate at Douglass Park, North Lawndale’s big park. The neighbourhood, not the house. AlphaBeta135 · CC BY 4.0
1900 block of South Spaulding Avenue
Sheila’s house
A house on the 1900 block of South Spaulding Avenue plays Sheila Jackson’s home.
A family’s home. Look from the pavement across the street, briefly; don’t go up to the porch or knock.
Where we read it
Sacramento Drive at Douglass Park, a few blocks east of 19th Street’s brick buildings. The neighbourhood, not the building. AlphaBeta135 · CC BY 4.0
West 19th Street
Fiona’s building
A brick building on West 19th Street plays the apartment building Fiona buys, the one that takes her up and down again.
Homes and flats. Look from the pavement; there is nothing to visit inside.
Where we read it

12 February 2014

Too cold for the cameras.

The fourth season came to the Homan Avenue block in February. Emmy Rossum told her followers it was so cold the cameras were malfunctioning. A neighbour who picked up security work from the shoot said the trick was to dress warm, and that summer would be nicer.

The Chicago Film Office reckoned a show like this took about eight days and $2 million an episode, money the street was glad of.

Where we read it

Rossum’s tweet about the cameras; the neighbour’s security work and his comments; the Chicago Film Office estimate of eight days and $2 million an episode.
DNAinfo Chicago: Shameless films in North Lawndale and Lakeview (12 February 2014)

September 2020

A drone over the roof.

With the final season shooting in Los Angeles after the spring shutdown, a small crew came back to Homan Avenue to fly a drone over the house. The shots were plates: Chicago for the visual-effects artists to put behind the Los Angeles sets.

Where we read it

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Chicago

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Broadway, the street that ignores the grid

Off the diagonal.

Patsy’s Pies, the restaurant Fiona comes to run, is a real diner on Broadway in Uptown. Broadway cuts across the grid at an angle and carries no grid number of its own.

The Riviera Theatre's lit marquee at night — The Riviera Theatre at Broadway and Lawrence. The Golden House Restaurant is its neighbour on Broadway. Kenneth C. Zirkel · CC BY-SA 4.0

4744 North Broadway, Uptown

Golden House Restaurant

The diner stands in for Patsy’s Pies, where Fiona works and comes to manage.

Its diner scenes stand in for Patsy’s Pies, the restaurant Fiona comes to run in later seasons.

It sits next to the Riviera Theatre.

It serves breakfast and diner plates with free coffee refills, and has no card readers.

A working diner next to the Riviera Theatre. Bring cash and check the hours before you go.

Where we read it

A two-storey brick and terracotta corner building with shops — The 1911 building at Irving Park Road and Broadway. Warren LeMay from Chicago, IL, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0

Irving Park Road at Broadway, Uptown, on the edge of Lakeview

Irving Park Road and Broadway

After the morning on Homan Avenue, the crew film near Irving Park Road and Broadway.

On 12 February 2014, after a morning on Homan Avenue, the crew filmed near Irving Park Road and Broadway.

Irving Park Road is 4000 North. Broadway runs on the diagonal and has no grid number.

A public street corner with shops. Nothing marks the shoot.

Where we read it

August 2018 · season nine

Into the Loop.

For the ninth season the cast came downtown: Union Station, the steps of the Art Institute, the Riverwalk and North Michigan Avenue, and the Pink Line out west. Here the numbers are small; you are within a few blocks of zero.

S Canal St · about 500 W

A barrel-vaulted skylight over a great hall, with the words To All Trains — The Great Hall of Chicago Union Station, 2022. Missvain · CC BY 4.0

Chicago Union Station

In August 2018 the cast were seen filming at Union Station for the ninth season.

The present station opened on 16 May 1925. Amtrak and Metra, including the BNSF Line, run from it.

A working station, open to travellers. The Great Hall is on the way to the trains.

Where we read it

S Michigan Av · 100 E

The Art Institute's stone facade on Michigan Avenue with a bronze lion — The Art Institute of Chicago on Michigan Avenue, with one of its two bronze lions, 2014. Nicholas Hartmann · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Art Institute of Chicago

The same August 2018 week, the cast were filming outside the Art Institute.

Edward Kemeys’s two bronze lions, each over two tons, were unveiled on 10 May 1894.

Michigan Avenue is 100 East: one of the few places in this World east of State Street.

A public museum; the steps and the lions are on Michigan Avenue. Check the museum’s own site for hours and tickets.

Where we read it

The river · about 250 N

Kayakers on the Chicago River beside a stepped riverside walk and towers — The Chicago Riverwalk on the south bank of the main branch, 2015. Jrbarc! · CC BY-SA 4.0

The Riverwalk and North Michigan Avenue

On a Thursday that August the cast were seen along the Riverwalk and North Michigan Avenue.

The Riverwalk runs along the south bank of the main branch, from the lake to Lake Street, with cafés, kayak rental and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza.

A public path along the river, open to walk. North Michigan Avenue crosses it on the bridge.

Where we read it

Chicago Athletic Association

The Loop

A hotel at 12 South Michigan Avenue, a short walk up the street from the Art Institute’s lions and down to the Riverwalk, the corner of the Loop the cast filmed in in August 2018. Rates are on the hotel’s own booking page.

See the hotel

A studio gate on a wide street, a water tower and hills behind — Gate 4 of Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, with the water tower behind, 2016. Coolcaesar · CC BY-SA 4.0

3400 Warner Boulevard

Off the grid.

Most of Shameless was made far from Chicago, on a studio lot in Los Angeles, about 2,810 km from Union Station. The studio’s tour address is 3400 Warner Boulevard. The house in Chicago is on Homan, which is 3400 West.

Most of Shameless was filmed at a Los Angeles studio, with some scenes in Chicago.

The series filmed on the Warner Bros. backlot and came to Chicago for exteriors several times a year.

After a COVID-19 shutdown in March 2020, the cast went back to work in Los Angeles on 8 September for the final season.

The Studio Tour runs from 8:30am to 3:30pm and costs from $79. Which backlot streets you see changes with what is filming.

Where we read it

9 Jan 2011First episode on Showtime
11Seasons, ending on 11 April 2021
134Episodes
8 daysTo shoot an episode, by the Chicago Film Office’s 2014 estimate, at about $2 million each

Where we read it

First episode 9 January 2011, last 11 April 2021; 11 seasons and 134 episodes.
Wikipedia: Shameless (American TV series)
Eight days and about $2 million an episode, the Chicago Film Office’s 2014 estimate for shows like Shameless.
DNAinfo Chicago: Shameless films in North Lawndale and Lakeview (12 February 2014)

Emmy Rossum at a panel table with a name card and microphone — Emmy Rossum on the Shameless panel at Comic-Con, San Diego, July 2011. Keith McDuffee · CC BY 2.0

William H. Macy laughing at a panel table, chin on his hand — William H. Macy on the Shameless panel at Comic-Con, July 2011. vagueonthehow from Tadcaster, York, England · CC BY 2.0

Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood

Burbank · Studio Tour from $79

Three hours on the lot where the Gallaghers’ rooms were built: backlot streets, which change with what is filming, and a self-guided soundstage. Daily from 8:30am to 3:30pm at 3400 Warner Boulevard, Burbank.

See the tour

The early seasons

The family.

William H. Macy at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2012, between the second and third seasons. gdcgraphics · CC BY-SA 2.0
William H. MacyFrank Gallagher · 2012
Emmy Rossum in December 2011, the year Shameless began. MingleMediaTVNetwork · CC BY-SA 2.0
Emmy RossumFiona Gallagher · 2011
Jeremy Allen White in Los Angeles in October 2013, during the show’s fourth year. Krystee Clark (crop by RanZag) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Jeremy Allen WhiteLip Gallagher · 2013
Cameron Monaghan at Macy and Felicity Huffman’s Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, March 2012. Angela George · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cameron MonaghanIan Gallagher · 2012
Shanola Hampton at the same Walk of Fame ceremony, March 2012. Angela George · CC BY-SA 3.0
Shanola HamptonVeronica Fisher · 2012
Steve Howey in February 2011, a month after Shameless began. Kristina K. 1981 · CC BY 2.0
Steve HoweyKevin Ball · 2011
Joan Cusack in June 2010, the year the first season was made. I Should Be Folding Laundry · CC BY 2.0
Joan CusackSheila Jackson · 2010
John Wells at his own Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, January 2012. Angela George · CC BY-SA 3.0
John WellsDeveloper and showrunner · 2012

John Wells developed the series from Paul Abbott’s British original and ran it. Around Macy and Rossum in the first seasons were Justin Chatwin as Steve, Ethan Cutkosky as Carl, Emma Kenney as Debbie, Noel Fisher as Mickey Milkovich and Laura Slade Wiggins as Karen Jackson. Macy was nominated for the Emmy for lead actor in a comedy six times.

Where we read it

Developer and showrunner, the British original, main cast and roles in seasons one to four, and Macy’s lead-actor Emmy nominations (2014–2018 and 2021).
Wikipedia: Shameless (American TV series)

Go there.

Where it is now

8 places you can visit, in Chicago and Burbank. The five houses on Homan, Trumbull, Spaulding and 19th Street are private homes: named in The block above, not on the map.

Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.

General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. An elevated Pink Line station, open to anyone with a fare. Ride west from the Loop and the Gallaghers’ part of town goes past the window.

The Pink Line platform at Kedzie, the nearest station to Homan Avenue. Jacob G. from Chicago, Ilinois, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
1944 South Kedzie Avenue, North Lawndale
Kedzie, on the Pink Line
Kedzie opened on 10 March 1902 on the Douglas Park branch and was rebuilt between 2002 and 2004. It serves Lawndale on the Pink Line’s Cermak branch.
An elevated Pink Line station, open to anyone with a fare. Ride west from the Loop and the Gallaghers’ part of town goes past the window.
Where we read it

Stay

Check in.

A hotel on Michigan Avenue, a walk from the lions and the river.

Chicago Athletic Association

The Loop

A hotel at 12 South Michigan Avenue, a short walk up the street from the Art Institute’s lions and down to the Riverwalk, the corner of the Loop the cast filmed in in August 2018. Rates are on the hotel’s own booking page.

See the hotel

Go there

The lot and the city.

The Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Burbank, and screen-location tours of Chicago.

Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood

Burbank · Studio Tour from $79

Three hours on the lot where the Gallaghers’ rooms were built: backlot streets, which change with what is filming, and a self-guided soundstage. Daily from 8:30am to 3:30pm at 3400 Warner Boulevard, Burbank.

See the tour

Viator · Ad / affiliate

Chicago film and TV locations

Chicago

Live marketplace results for screen-location tours of Chicago. None is built round Shameless; check each itinerary for the Loop and the West Side.

Live marketplace results · itineraries change

Compare tours

What’s on

October in Chicago.

The city’s film festival opens on 14 October.

Checking current event dates…

Take it home

The record and the yards.

The 2014 soundtrack album on CD, and a history of the stockyards behind the story’s Canaryville.

eBay · Ad / affiliate

Shameless: Music from the Television Series

Various artists · CD, Varèse Sarabande, 2014

The show’s soundtrack album, released in the US on 15 April 2014, the spring after the fourth season.

Live marketplace search · listings and condition change

Find a copy

Bookshop.org UK · Ad / affiliate

Slaughterhouse: Chicago’s Union Stock Yard and the World It Made

Dominic A. Pacyga · University of Chicago Press

A history of the stockyards that gave the story’s Canaryville its trade, and perhaps its name.

Find the book

Dates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.

Every corner, with sources

Every place and moment behind this page.

Search all places and Moments Current state Sort

13 of 13 places · 15 of 15 Moments

The Gallagher house
2100 block of South Homan Avenue, North Lawndale
- The house
  A real house on the 2100 block of South Homan Avenue plays the Gallagher home; most of the show is shot at a studio in Los Angeles.
- February on Homan
  The crew shoot exteriors on the Homan Avenue block in February 2014, in cold that Emmy Rossum says is making the cameras malfunction.
- The drone
  A small crew flies a drone over the house to shoot visual-effects plates for the final season.
Kevin and Veronica’s house
2100 block of South Homan Avenue, North Lawndale
- Next door but a few
  A house a few doors down plays Kevin and Veronica’s.
The Milkovich house
1900 block of South Trumbull Avenue, North Lawndale
- The Milkoviches
  A house on South Trumbull plays the Milkovich home.
Sheila’s house
1900 block of South Spaulding Avenue, North Lawndale
- Sheila’s
  A house on South Spaulding plays Sheila Jackson’s home.
Fiona’s building
West 19th Street, North Lawndale
- The building
  A brick building on West 19th Street plays the one Fiona buys.
Kedzie, on the Pink Line
1944 South Kedzie Avenue, North Lawndale
- The Pink Line
  Members of the cast are seen filming along the Pink Line.
Union Stock Yard Gate
Exchange Avenue at Peoria Street, New City
- Canaryville
  The show sets the Gallaghers in Canaryville, the old stockyards neighbourhood around Halsted Street.
Chicago Union Station
225 South Canal Street, the Loop
- Union Station
  The cast are seen filming at Union Station for season nine.
The Art Institute of Chicago
111 South Michigan Avenue
- The lions
  The cast film outside the Art Institute.
The Riverwalk and North Michigan Avenue
South bank of the Chicago River, the Loop
- The river
  The cast are seen along the Riverwalk and North Michigan Avenue on a Thursday.
Golden House Restaurant
4744 North Broadway, Uptown
- Patsy’s Pies
  The diner stands in for Patsy’s Pies, where Fiona works and comes to manage.
Irving Park Road and Broadway
Irving Park Road at Broadway, Uptown, on the edge of Lakeview
- Afternoon in Lakeview
  After the morning on Homan Avenue, the crew film near Irving Park Road and Broadway.
Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank
3400 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California
- The backlot
  Most of the series is made at a Los Angeles studio, on the Warner Bros. backlot.

Shameless