Emmy Rossum, naked.
Do it’s crucial that you know more?
Kids really do grow up so fast.
It seems like only yesterday we met the whole Gallagher brood when Showtime premieredShamelessin primetime.
This hour-long comedy/drama derives its humor from the absolutely darkest, most miserable corner of the gallows.
To quote a producer onShameless, Its notMy Name is EarlorRoseanne.
Its got a much graver level of poverty attached to it.
Its not blue collar; its no collar.
But be careful or you may pity or politicize the Family Gallagher at your own peril.
If you let them, they will swindle and screw you eight ways till Sunday.
Macy is fantastic as the neer-do-well patriarch who has all but abandoned his family.
The other major star of the ensemble is Emmy Rossum as Franks eldest, grit-iron daughter Fiona.
And shes naked in the show.
you might thank me later for inadvertently hooking you to a fantastic television series.
Season 2 ofShamelessstarted remarkably different…in the summer.
No, the characters were letting their hair down and partying in the summer heat.
He also, randomly, joined a fight club.
Thats one way to burn through money.
Fi spent much ofShamelessssecond year getting over Steve/Jimmy (or as I like to call him, Simmy).
She attempts to get over it by sleeping with Simmy-lookalikes, including an older man.
Meanwhile Lip cannot get over psycho Karen using him just for sex.
Lip drowns his sorrow by helping Ian get into West Point through his shady University of Chicago connections.
This awakens the feral den mother within Fiona who kicks Lip out of the house for repeating her mistakes.
The vile creature curses her mother and promises to run away for good.
And then theres Frank.
She also tries to buy her grandchildrens love with thousands of dollars before fooling Sheila into mercy killing her.
But the return of Hurricane Monica Gallagher (Chloe Webb) tops it all.
Jimmy steps up and gets her to the hospital while Fiona deals with the fallout.
Frank slinks back to Sheila (who is now far too cozy with Jody and her new grandson).
However, it was grounded in a much drearier reality of poverty in the South Side.
Lip dropping out of school is not funny, but depressingly stupid.
Yet, there is still plenty to like about Season 2 beyond the darkness.
Ian comes out of the closet to more members of his family.
Steve comes clean to Fi that hes actually Jimmy, a rich kid from the suburbs playing poor.
Also, any scene with Joan Cusack is comedy gold.
Ultimately, its whats underneath all this cynical Fuck you too bravado that makes it work.
Unlike other snarky premium cable dramedies (ahemGirlsahem), we actually care about these characters.
Most of them are likable and relatable despite their titular shamelessness.
Thats not to sayShamelessis perfect.
Can Karen and Monica stay gone?
Perhaps well find out this week whenShameless, the most proudly immoral show on television, returns.
We can all raise a glass to that.
