Shameless

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Shameless title.

Jourdan-Ashle Barnes, Reporter

Recently, the Showtime dramedy series Shameless has been gaining popularity. This series follows the misadventures of Frank Gallagher, an alcoholic, who is a single parent of six kids, who often find themselves in loads of trouble. Despite the horrible context of the show, people are still drawn to it. Shameless is dark, comical, and brings shock value. The series features an ensemble cast, providing various storylines to keep viewers engaged.

The Gallagher home

Fiona is the oldest Gallagher and the cornerstone of the family. But, I find her to be very annoying, but not as annoying as Debbie. Fiona continuously has poor judgement when it comes to her romantic relationships and repeatedly makes the same mistakes. Also, due to her poor judgement she has put her family in jeopardy at various times in order to fulfill her own agenda. But, Fiona does assert herself as the head of this family and is the main reason that they stay afloat.

Phillip “Lip” Gallagher is a fan favorite, particularly amongst the ladies. Lip appears to be a stereotypical reckless “bad boy” that all of the girls want, however, he is actually very smart and caring towards the needs of his younger siblings. Lip often is the most (relatively) accurate decision maker in the Gallagher family, however, almost all of his girlfriends turn out to be erratic and borderline psychotic.

Ian was originally my favorite character, but, his irrational behavior that put others at risk removed him from this spot. Ian is the king of getting himself into complicated romantic relationships. The producers of the show use Ian’s storyline as a platform to address and educate viewers about issues in the LGBT community and about mental health.

William H. Macy stars as Frank Gallagher on the hit TV show Shameless

Debbie is the youngest of the Gallagher sisters. Debbie starts the show as a young girl who is naive to Frank’s schemes. As the show progresses Debbie becomes the most annoying character by a landslide. Her typical teen-girl antics seem to be worsened by the influence of her home life which leads her to make the worst decisions with seemingly a lack of common sense.

Carl is my favorite character in the show. In the beginning of the series he displays psychopathic tendencies like killing various animals, however, as he ages he proves that he can hustle and survive in almost any situation. His storyline often provides comic relief from other more serious plot lines. Besides Frank, Carl is the most humorous character on the show.

Frank Gallagher is the heart and soul of Shameless. He is the living definition of a POS. He does not truly love his kids, he only uses them when it is convenient to his own agenda. However, despite all of his evil antics, he is the main source of comedy on this show. His sly jokes and misadventures are what make this series great. This show uses comedy to highlight real issues in the world. Shameless is very sad, very humorous, occasionally educational, and something you should watch.