I have always been a great admirer of William H. Macy. From his brilliant work with David Mamet to his performance as Dr. Morgenstern in the seminal series ER (I trace the shows downfall to the disappearance of his character) to his superlative work on any of TNT's movies, he has demonstrated that he is one of our greatest actors. Which is why it causes me so much to see what Showtime has done to him as Frank Gallagher in Shameless.
Showtime has been known for creating niche series with darker characters at the center. However, Frank Gallagher is such an unpleasant character that one could see Dexter trying to alter his 'code' to dispatch. Alcoholic, incredibly racist, opportunistic and thoroughly unpleasant, Frank may be the most unpleasant character at the center of any series who wasn't an outright criminal. The best that can be said about Macy is that he manages to create an aura of distastefulness so total you can't recognize him. And therein lies the shows core issue: why would anyone voluntarily want to spent an hour a week with him. Even his fellow barflies find him distasteful.
If this were all Shameless had, it wouldn't be worth the time of day. Wisely, however, John Wells centers the show around the Gallagher children who, having been more or less abandoned by their father, must find a way to fend for themselves, staying ahead of social services, and skirting the edge of the law. The eldest, Fiona (well played by Emmy Rossum) has the brio and sexuality of a much older woman, and she represents whatever models for goodness the younger Gallagher's have. All of the other Gallagher's skirt ethics to try and make money, whether it be selling pot and beer to pre-teens, having a ten-year old run a daycare, or in the case of Lip, the eldest male child, scamming the test preps for just about every teenager in Chicago. There is something about watching this family, the lowest of the low class, struggle to survive, and even thrive--- Cam, the openly homosexual and militaristic son is trying to get into West Point.
Of course, because this is a Showtime series, there is quite a lot of sex. Lip is currently having a relationship with Joy, a sex addict, who seems to be involved in a relationship with someone twice her age, but still has sex with Lip. Fiona seems to be going through a one-night stand every night, getting over her ex Steve (not his real name, but I'm sure we'll see him again this season. Cameron may be the normal sexually, but only because he stopped crewing the owner of the convenience store he works with. The sex in this series is neither erotic nor prurient--- it's just there, and it seems to be present to just add to the title.
Shameless is an odd bird in Showtime's little family--- it's too light-hearted to be considered a drama, but the laughs don't come nearly frequently enough to be considered a comedy. Aside from Macy, the cast is mostly good (especially the always reliable Joan Cusack, as an agoraphobic who Frank is living with because she doesn't know how awful he is), but a lot of time they just seem to be treading water. And yet there is something about this series that makes it superior to Weeds and The L Word. It may be disgusting at times, but it has a grim fascination. I just can't make up my mind on this one. Macy get's one star, the rest of the show gets four, so that averages out to 2 and a half. Maybe, like the Gallagher offspring, it can work its way into your head.
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