Shameless - Series 1

A buddy of mine told me I should watch this British Chanel 4 comedy series Shameless. At first I had to get used to all the cursing, the vulgarities, the drunk talk, the stiffies, the quickies, and all the other frustrations of the British underclass. But then it dawned on me: shameless sex and drinks, that’s me! It’s about single-dad Frank Gallagher, his six kids and their friends: his daughter Fiona and her boyfriend Steve; his sons Philip and Ian; and his youngest kids crazy Carl, Debbie and Liam; and their neighbors Kevin and Veronica. Frank himself is a welfare-check (“giro”) cashing, good-for-nothing drunk, and is missing more often than not. Fiona is the bread winner in the family and responsible for raising her siblings. Her boyfriend Steve is a well-meaning middle-class whackjob of a car thief, who offers all the support Fiona needs, but she can’t seem to believe he’s for real. Ian is gay and has a relation with a married Muslim man, but is afraid to tell anyone, except this one girl who came on to him and then became his cover-up girlfriend.

Neighbor Kev asks his girlfriend of nine years, Veronica, to marry him, only because he told this girl who was pursuing him at the bar that he was getting married. Well, that, and to cash in on the money Vee’s deceased father left her. She also has a pyromaniac brother with Tourette’s syndrome. Then there’s lovely sex-starved Sheila (whose husband recently left her, and who suffers from so many phobias, she never leaves the house) and her delicious daughter Karen, who licks her spoon likes she’s having sex and who was briefly dating Lips, and then has an affair with Frank when he moved in with her mother Sheila... Quite a disturbing mother-daughter, father-son rectangulation... Shameless? Yes, certainly! Lots of hilarious comedy, profound drama, superb acting, excellent dialogue, compelling narratives. My warmest recommendation.