Pilot

Unfortunately most of these other reviews are wildly over and under thought simultaneously. This is the best episode of the series. Has drama, comedy, highs, lows, action, thought, sex, love, hate. Beautifully sets up all the characters and the deterioration of all of them from this point forward is a huge disappointment. Sure, the series as a whole is awesome, but this episode is as pure as it gets. I want what Fiona and Steve have. I want what Kev and V have. I want the brotherly comaraderie that Ian and lip have. I want the tight knit community banter kev has with all the bar patrons. We all want all of those things and they're all perfectly romanticized in this episode. From here through the bitter end of the series it also deteriorates, and that's fine and natural for every series.. but for this one, this episode is all at its purest. Character development masterpiece, fun and lighthearted, and lays the groundwork perfectly for what's to come.. even though what's to come never lives up to this episode. Television brilliance in a single episode.

The pilot episode was vaguely interesting. Unfortunately not enough so to keep me from switching between it and other new shows. This is the TV story of a poor family in Detroit who works together for the good of the whole. The hook is their work is mostly shifty. The dad collects disability checks from getting hit in the chest by a headless chicken while working at the local meat packing plant. He then proceeds to get pass-out drunk EVERY night. One daughter collects money for UNICEF but doesn't give it to the organization. One son tutors, even telling his client as she's giving him oral sex he'll have to still charge her as it's his job.

There is the usual amount of Showtime nudity, which seems to be what they're using for a formula these days. Breasts + seedy characters + course language = hit. It worked for Californication I suppose. Not so much for Shameless.

Perhaps if they shift focus to the kids more and the scams they're running it would be more entertaining. More useful at any rate. As it is, not only is it nothing we haven't seen before, it's nothing most of us (or at least childhood friends) haven't lived before either.

A pilot is arugably the most important episode of any Show, seeing how its supposed to lead a new viewer into the story and get them to keep watching. This episode had the opposite effect.

The first red flag came in the form of some good old Exposition introducing the main characters. Getting to know the characters natrually is overrated anyway, right?

Talking about introductions i have to talk about the pacing of this episode. It just drops way to many new characters and plots on you all to once. You can´t properly introduce such a big cast in just one episode! It made this episode feel messy and unfocused. I couldn´t tell you one character trait for most of the characters (and thats not because i didin´t pay attention).

The jokes are another topic alltogether. Sure, humor is subjective and all but if most jokes are sex based its gets boring real quick, most of the sex jokes weren´t even good in my opinion.

Maybe the rest of the show is a masterpiece but after this dumbster fire i sure as heck don´t have to will to find that out.

Remakes repel me. Wouldn't it be more interesting and culture-friendly to just air the original in America ? There're reasons why the British series is successful after all and I question the decision to adapt a foreign recipe in order to make it more digestible for a specific audience. That's why it took me a while to decide either or not the show deserved my attention. Now that I have seen the pilot I absolutely not regret my change of heart. Moreover when you think about it the arguments in its favor are numerous enough. However when it comes to Showtime I tend to raise my eyebrows because despite some undeniable qualities productions like Californication and Weeds are definitely not my cup of tea. Otherwise they're just the tip of the iceberg because in my humble opinion Dexter is a masterpiece, at least until season 6, and The Borgias was enchainting.

But let's go back to Shameless. I instantly digged its concept, following a dysfunctional family, because we all have issues. Your mother is a Queen ? Your five years old sister demolished your tower defense highscore ? William H. Macy was the second thing that convinced me to give the show a chance. Indeed his dual performance in Umney's Last Case (Nightmares & Dreamscapes) was delightful so I highly anticipated his role as a drunken father. Sadly it's only a minor one but at least he did a good job and you should enjoy the small gathering scene. The other excuse I found, yes because it confused my senses, is Emmy Rossum. I've always been fascinated by performers breaking the barriers of their own cells to free their talent and shatter the audience. Does Christian Bale in The Machinist ring a bell ? Rossum's transformation is nothing jaw dropping but I really enjoyed that she just looked like the sad girl next door. Without make up, a messy haircut and none of the glamorous attributes that shine on her promotional photos. So considering I had never seen her before her empathic role as Fiona Gallagher confirmed that smoking beauty and real talent can mix on TV !

In the entertaining department we have the best of what Showtime has to offer. From shocking to sex-driven scenes there're plenty of guilty pleasures to appeal the network addicts. However shame on them for not promoting safe sex ! At least they had the decency of keeping Rossum's curves in the dark, making her even more charming and sexy. Anyway these are minor details compared to the story. Yes because in the end it's all about the characters and the obstacles they have to overcome in order to survive the harsh reality ! From addictions to sexuality many interesting and disturbing topics are covered. Add an immersive production with a slightly amateurish visuals and you have a winner ! The wicked minds behind the show also had the wise idea of enriching the story with a more conventional arc. Indeed Fiona can be seen as a modern Cinderella. She's actually inspiring because she takes care of everybody and the ongoing romance intrigued me. Moreover the writers twisted things a little, making an event very surprising. I just didn't see it coming !

In the end it seemed the remake had potential. Between two dramas there was even room for comedy but don't expect Shameless to be a dramedy ! However my fear is that the audience will probably never see the end of it. Indeed the original has already 10 seasons and in this installment I didn't really see a glimpse of hope. It actually reminded me of Hung because I fell in love with it during its first season but gave up on it during the second because it just seemed hopeless. When characters have issues, they have to solve them. Of course you can't become sober overnight nor improve your social condition in a few weeks but I just hate neverending series. Still I have read some raving reviews about Emmy Rossum's performance in later episodes and the preview revealed that the next installment should shock the audience even more !

Note : This review was first posted on Kritikenstein, my weblog.