Shameless is a dramedy that aired on Showtime for eleven seasons from 2011 to 2021. The 12-episode first season aired during the winter and spring of 2011. The main cast members in the first season were William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum, Jeremy Allen White, Cameron Monaghan, Steve Howey, Emma Kennedy, Ethan Cutkosky, Shanola Hampton, Laura Slade Wiggins, and Joan Cusack. It also had a large recurring cast, some of whom would eventually become series regulars. Some of those included Noel Fisher, Marguerite Moreau, and Amy Smart. The guest stars in season 1 included Anthony Anderson and Alex Borstein.
I am someone who was late to the game when it came to this show. I have, of course, heard of it for years but did not get around to running it until very late in its run. For those who have not seen it, it is an American version of a British show, and much like was the case with The Office, in the first few episodes, it mirrored the British version almost as a carbon copy, then started to find its own legs. It was created for US TV by the co-creator of ER, John Wells, and the creators of the original British show.
The series is centered around the Gallaghers, a poor, trashy, and borderline all-out criminal family. It is "headed" by Frank Gallagher, played by ER alum William H. Macy, in a role 180 degrees from his role on ER. Frank is a blackout drunk with 6 kids who manage to still be (somewhat) functional, running scam after scam to keep the drinking money flowing in. The family is led by the eldest of the children, Fiona, played wonderfully by Emmy Rossum, who had to drop out of high school during her junior year to take care of the family when their mother took off, and Frank became totally unable to care for any of them. She is torn between wanting to be a carefree young adult in her early 20s and being a parent to kids ranging from 2 to 17.
I will not go into too much of the storylines for the few who, like me, are coming into the series cold. I will say that it is a very raw show, with all of its themes, drinking, drug use, sex, etc. It will hit home with anyone who has a dysfunctional family or even someone who is a generation removed from a dysfunctional family and still has some tangential contact with the older family members. While the Gallaghers are portrayed as a very over-the-top case of a poor, almost "trailer trash" dysfunctional family (although there are families that certainly act the way the family members do, to greater or lesser degrees), it also shows that dysfunction can occur not only in poor families but rich ones as well.
The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set. The show looks and sounds great, especially the high-definition exterior shots of Chicago. The extras include commentary tracks on a couple of episodes, deleted scenes, and about 45 minutes of behind-the-scenes and making-of material.
Overall, the series is well-written and very well-acted. The show is perfectly cast, with everyone knocking their roles out of the park, including the supporting cast. Joan Cusak steals nearly every scene she is in, as a clueless housewife with agoraphobia. It does not sugarcoat any of its themes, and has a lot of drinking, drug use, sex, nudity, etc., by both the adults and teens on the show (who are really in their 20s). The humor is very dark, and he manages to find humor in a lot of situations that would not normally be funny. It is definitely not a show that is for everyone, so if any of the above would turn you off to a show, then you definitely should skip this one. But, if you can accept those things and are looking for a good dramedy, then this is definitely worth checking out.
The series is centered around the Gallaghers, a poor, trashy, and borderline all-out criminal family. It is "headed" by Frank Gallagher, played by ER alum William H. Macy, in a role 180 degrees from his role on ER. Frank is a blackout drunk with 6 kids who manage to still be (somewhat) functional, running scam after scam to keep the drinking money flowing in. The family is led by the eldest of the children, Fiona, played wonderfully by Emmy Rossum, who had to drop out of high school during her junior year to take care of the family when their mother took off, and Frank became totally unable to care for any of them. She is torn between wanting to be a carefree young adult in her early 20s and being a parent to kids ranging from 2 to 17.
I will not go into too much of the storylines for the few who, like me, are coming into the series cold. I will say that it is a very raw show, with all of its themes, drinking, drug use, sex, etc. It will hit home with anyone who has a dysfunctional family or even someone who is a generation removed from a dysfunctional family and still has some tangential contact with the older family members. While the Gallaghers are portrayed as a very over-the-top case of a poor, almost "trailer trash" dysfunctional family (although there are families that certainly act the way the family members do, to greater or lesser degrees), it also shows that dysfunction can occur not only in poor families but rich ones as well.
The Blu-Ray set is a two-disc set. The show looks and sounds great, especially the high-definition exterior shots of Chicago. The extras include commentary tracks on a couple of episodes, deleted scenes, and about 45 minutes of behind-the-scenes and making-of material.
Overall, the series is well-written and very well-acted. The show is perfectly cast, with everyone knocking their roles out of the park, including the supporting cast. Joan Cusak steals nearly every scene she is in, as a clueless housewife with agoraphobia. It does not sugarcoat any of its themes, and has a lot of drinking, drug use, sex, nudity, etc., by both the adults and teens on the show (who are really in their 20s). The humor is very dark, and he manages to find humor in a lot of situations that would not normally be funny. It is definitely not a show that is for everyone, so if any of the above would turn you off to a show, then you definitely should skip this one. But, if you can accept those things and are looking for a good dramedy, then this is definitely worth checking out.
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