The staff here at Elepharts were jawing around the boardroom table this morning, you know, just kind of gabbing about what we've been watching lately on TV and such, as you do. And it turned out that all of us are in love with one new show in particular - Showtime's "Shameless". This show is amazing. Totally amazing. The cast is wonderful to a man (and woman), the writing is superb, the direction exceptional, the production quailty top-notch... you get the idea. The show is a remake of the great original UK series about the dysfunctional Gallagher family headed up by a drunken lout of a father and abandoned by a drug addled (and newly lesbian) mother. The GREAT William H. Macy plays the dad Frank Gallagher and so has the unenviable task of making the most useless, self-absorbed, scumbag of a parent somehow... loveable.
Seriously, this is a father who was more or less willing to sell his youngest child back to the returning mom for booze money. Yet you still end up liking him... in a Tony Soprano kind of way. And the beautiful and mega-talented Emmy Rossum finally gets her breakout role as long suffering, matyr-syndromed Fiona Gallagher, the eldest daughter who has been forced to grow up way too soon and raise the other five kids in the brood. Emmy plays the role with just the right amount of pathos and spunk and... lets just say its a fine line she needs to hit to make the character really work and she totally nails it. The eldest brother "Lip" played by Jeremy Allen White is also a revelation. The scene in the latest episode where he's faced with an emotional rampage from his mom - the emotions playing across his face through the entire scene - the guy is unbelievably good.
Joan Cusack is a great addition to the cast as well with her spot on portrayal of a crazy woman Frank is currently taking advantage of... mind you she gets her own back on him in a very interesting way - but we'll not get into that right now. Anyways, with the "Sopranos" now a distant memory, "Dexter" in serious decline and "Boardwalk Empire" yet to find its feet, in the humble opinion of Elepharts - "Shameless" is the most interesting, well acted, well produced, highest quality production currently on television. You should watch it. It's on Sunday's at 10 pm but the season is almost at its end so you can also get episodes on demand at Showtime Shameless.
