Must-Netflix #1

[IMAGINE A FLOSSY YOUTUBE CLIP RIGHT HERE AND THEN GO TO YOUTUBE, SEARCH FOR 'SHAMELESS' AND SEE FOR YOURSELVES. SELF-DISCOVERY AND THE JOYS OF EXPLORATION AWAIT AND ARE BEAUTIFUL THINGS. ENJOY.]


When they were up a couple of weeks back, my parents mentioned a British show they had stumbled across called 'Shameless' and were raving about it, insisting that we should get ahold of it somehow and watch it. I figured it's got to be something fairly special to make both Mom AND Dad insist upon its quality and watchability. I'm still slightly agog at the fact that both of them are newly converted Battlestar Galactica fans.

So I got ahold of it- and the Missus and I have spent the last week or so working our way through the first series and it is as advertised: brilliant and a must see for anyone that just likes damn good television. The story of a dysfunctional family who lives in a Manchester housing estate, Shameless follows the lives of Frank Gallagher (alcoholic), his eldest daughter Fiona (surrogate mother), her brothers Lip (smart-ass) and Ian (in the closet), sister Debbie (kinda strange), little brother Liam (cute), neighbors Veronica and Kevin and Fiona's boyfriend Steve (played by, of all people, James McAvoy- and played very well indeed.)

This is a show that sort of defies conventional description, because it walks an incredibly fine line: the family itself seems crazy dysfunctional and some of the stuff that happens just leaves your jaw on the floor- but despite that, the writing, the characters, the sheer talent of the acting makes these people very, very real and identifiable. Probably the realest people on television that I can think of.

If CSI is boring you now that Grissom is leaving or if Bones doesn't hold the charm it used too and you're tired of waiting for Battlestar Galactica to come back or even if Heroes has just complete lost you, get out the old Netflix and get ahold of 'Shameless'- award-winning British television that totally lives up to the hype.