DVD Release: 5 Reasons to Get Your Shameless On!
They are raunchy, crude, brash, wildly inappropriate and hilariously flawed ... and they are unapologetic about it all. They are the Gallaghers of Showtime's hit Shameless and Snakkle has 5 reasons why you should check out the first season on DVD. By Erin Fox1. Shameless Is Brought to You by the John Wells of ER, West Wing and Southland.
I mean, come on. John Wells? You know it has to be good. Wells is known for being able to mix short-term or procedural storytelling with long-term and complex character arcs. The three shows listed above are some of the all-time best on TV! The cool part is, Shameless is completely different than anything Wells has tackled before. Adapted from the successful British drama of the same name, Showtime’s version is completely character driven dramedy about a colorful and crazy working class family trying to get by in Chicago’s south side. Part sad, part funny, party quirky, part depressing, the Gallagher clan always adds up to a full and robust piece of entertainment.
2. You’ll Feel So Much Better About Your “Crazy” Family
The pilot’s first three minutes sets up the Gallagher clan perfectly with a voiceover from patriarch Frank (William H. Macy). We meet Fiona (Emmy Rossum), who is the oldest and a surrogate mom to the four other Gallagher kids, Lip (Jeremy Allen White) who is smart but prone to trouble with the law, Ian (Cameron Monaghan) with the incredible work ethic (who happens to be hiding the fact that he’s gay), Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) the budding arsonist/sociopath, Debbie (Emma Kenney) the freckle-faced saint and baby Liam, who happens to be half African Amercian. Of course, the characters throughout the season become much more three-dimensional, but we know exactly what kind of father Frank is when he says, “We may not have much, but all of us, to a man, knows the most important thing in this life: We know how to f***in’ party!” And you thought your dad was nuts…
3. This Is Showtime – There Are Major Sexy Time Scenes
I didn’t think this show would have hot sexy scenes. At all. Like, not even close. But you’ll want to check out Emmy Rossum and Justin Chatwin’s explosive and destructively HOT chemistry (too sexy to link here!).
2. The Awesome Special Features
We don’t know about you, but Snakkle loves some good behind the scenes features on our DVDs, and this one delivers. The features include a documentary about making the show called “Bringing Shameless to America,” a discussion about casting these memorable characters called “Shameless: Bringing the ‘Fun’ in ‘Dysfunctional'”, and “A Shameless Discussion About Sex” that explores the awkwardness of filming sex scenes (seriously!). Of course there is episode commentaries, deleted scenes and a delightful peek at Season 2 (now playing on Showtime), as well.
1. Frank Gallagher, for Better or for Worse…
We had the pleasure of catching the Shameless panel at the Television Critics Association winter tour, and found the cast to be openly thrilled about being on such a unique show and playing unconventional characters. We nabbed hottie Justin Chatwin (Steve) and asked him what Frank’s lowest moment was in Season 1. Chatwin said, “It’s all of the choices he makes when he’s intoxicated and completely out of his head. There is that episode where he is sober and he’s the most fantastic dad in the world. And [the kids] all want to get him drunk because it was just so disillusioning for them, and they just knew that it wasn’t real. They just had to get him drunk again because they couldn’t handle seeing a real father. All they wanted was stability. If stability is having an alcoholic father, then at least they have the stability of that as opposed to something they know is not going to last. Frank Gallagher is a fun, charming guy, but his actions speak louder than his words and his actions are self-serving, narcissistic and greedy.”
That said, Chatwin does have a soft spot for Frank saying, “I think Frank is really an intelligent guy … I think that Frank exists in Steve – he’s just a younger version of Frank.” Watch out Fiona!
Season 2 of Shameless is airing now on Sundays at 9 pm/ET, only on Showtime.