Shameless: Complete Season One

Nothing on American TV could possibly prepare viewers for the earthy, frank rawness of this British series about a wild and reckless Manchester family, whose sexcapades, antisocial antics, and free floating anxiety bear some similarity to The Sopranos. But whereas the Sopranos appear to be a socially aberrant family striving to maintain a tenuous sense of normalcy, Shameless' Gallagher clan engages in petty criminality in a manner that suggests their not-so-quiet desperation is the lot of most working-class urbanites. Twenty-year-old Fiona (Anne-Marie Duff) is just barely holding her gaggle of five younger siblings together (their mother abandoned them years ago and their father has since turned to drink), but a marriage proposal (James McAvoy, The Last King of Scotland fame, plays one of her suitors) carrying the promises of a suburban mortgage and a pension fund—more important than protestations of love—offers a genuine temptation to fly this nutty coop. Both depressingly sad and rowdily funny, this 2004 first season of Shameless compiles all seven episodes, with DVD extras including an interview with series creator Paul Abbott. Recommended. (M. Johanson)