The ninth season of Shameless picks up with the aftermath of Ian's arrest: Fiona attempts to pay for Ian's bail by getting the apartment building appraised, while Ian becomes a leader for the gay inmates in prison. Christian Isaiah and Richard Flood, who portray Liam Gallagher and Ford Kellogg respectively, were promoted to the main cast.
However, Monaghan appeared in 'Found', the season finale, and returned to the series in season ten. On October 7, 2018, Cameron Monaghan announced that the sixth episode of the season would be his last one. On August 30, 2018, Emmy Rossum announced that she would leave the series following the ninth season. The season also includes the 100th episode of the series. The second half of the season premiered on January 20, 2019.
The season premiered on September 9, 2018, and consisted of 14 episodes, split into two seven-episode parts. The ninth season of Shameless, an American comedy-drama television series based on the British series of the same name by Paul Abbott, was announced on November 8, 2017, following the season 8 premiere.