Shameless

Do you ever just get hooked into watching a show that you really don't like, yet you keep watching. I think I'm at that point with "Shameless." If you're not familiar, it's a re-make of a British show, that is currently in it's second season on Showtime.

What drew me to the show to begin with was William H. Macy. He's one of those actors, for me, that if he's in something, I'll watch it. He plays the absent alcoholic patriarch who has lived off the "system" his entire life. He only pops into the kid's lives when he wants something. Eldest daughter Fiona, Emmy Rossum, while constantly taking her clothes off, tries to hold the family together. The oldest son trades tutoring skills for sexual favors. The middle son, a West Point wannabe, has a gay relationship with his married boss. The youngest daughter, the responsible one, is stealing money from her UNICEF collection and the 10 year old son is a budding sociopath and arsonist. Let's not forget about the agoraphobic, Joan Cusak and her sex crazed teen daughter.

"Shameless" is just another in a long line of recent shows that feature and focus on unlikeable characters. It's like the writers say, "Alright, how disdainful can we make this weeks show?" "Shameless" tries too hard! Instead of me, as a viewer, wanting to know what's going to happen to the characters next, I'm wondering how far are they going to push the absurdity, yet I continue to watch...at least one more week. Maybe the writers do know what they're doing!