Shameless Sundays

Yesterday I had a chance to watch the new Showtime series, Shameless, which is a show about the Gallagher family- a quirky Chicago family of six kids and one alcoholic dad (Frank).

The Gallagher family is poor, and it doesn’t help that the dad, played brilliantly by William H. Macy, spends his disability checks on alcohol binges and bar tabs leaving the children to fend for themselves.  Even so, we are never left feeling sorry for the Gallagher children, as they are far wiser than their years and are more resourceful than most adults.

The kids include Fiona, (Emmy Rossum); two teenage sons, Lip (Jeremy Allen White) and Ian (Cameron Monaghan); and the younger kids, Debbie (Emma Kenney), Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) and toddler Liam (Blake Alexander and Brennan Kane Johnson).

In each episode we get to root for the Gallagher children as they come up with clever ways to make money on a day-to-day basis to pay basic necessities like water and heat.  The heart of the show is watching the Gallagher children through their growing pains, the kind of teenaged drama that we can all relate to.

Make no mistake, the Gallagher children are a little rough around the edges - they are deeply complex, they smoke, drink, curse, have sex, and steal among other things, but, at the end of the day, they are like us; with feelings, doubts, insecurities, and heart.

Through all the chaos, there are many moments of the Gallagher children coming together as a family and doing routine things like watching odd TV shows and eating breakfast together.
They do this all while Frank Gallagher (dad) is passed out on the floor drunk from last night’s debauchery.

The show is unapologetically hilarious and parts might even make your jaw drop, like the scene when Frank Gallagher pays visit to the mom of Lip’s girl friend (played by Joan Cusack). Let’s just say Frank unintentionally ends up in a situation that involves a sex toy, a safe word, and chair cushions for a week.

Shameless is an appropriately titled show for this one-hour twisted treat of unapologetically shameless indulgence.

Guess what I’ll be doing next Sunday at 10:00pm?