When Dad’s passed out on the floor, wasted from the previous night’s carousing, the kids know to shake the loose change from his pocket and step over him on the way out.
This sad commentary on paternal failure bows on TV next week in “Shameless,” a series that takes the exploration of familial dysfunction a step beyond the hit show “Breaking Bad.”
At least Bryan Cranston’s Walter White in “Breaking Bad” isn’t hooked on drugs himself; he’s just cooking them to support his family.
Frank Gallagher of “Shameless” is the kind of guy who is better acquainted with his neighborhood tavern than with some of his children. He’s a slacker who cashes his disability checks at the bar and is routinely dragged home drunk by the cops. The kids are so accustomed to letting him sleep it off on the floor that they use his open mouth for hoops practice.
A simple gesture by Frank’s youngest daughter sums up the overarching premise: As Frank lies unconscious on the linoleum, his gray stubble and long greasy hair framing his haggard face, his daughter Debbie gently slides a cushion under his head. The point is, even a bad father is still loved by his children.
“Shameless,” debuting at 8 p.m. Jan. 9 on Showtime, is meant to be darkly comic. For some, it will be simply, relentlessly dreary. An assessment of downscale American despairs, sexual obsessions and lapses with the law, imagined in bitter detail, it isn’t easy viewing. The difficult theme is conveyed by superior actors, however, and the character portraits are quirky enough to seem pathetically real.
William H. Macy has found his juicy, adults-only, premium- cable-TV role as Frank, the ultimate deadbeat alcoholic dad.
The drama, from executive producer John Wells (“ER”), is based on a British pilot written by Paul Abbott, who serves as co-executive producer. For the American version, they’ve switched the setting from Manchester to a working- class suburb of Chicago, incorporated references to layoffs at the local Chrysler plant and delivered a recognizably American family.
According to Abbott, Frank is “an antihero with little perception of what makes him chronically repulsive.”
A challenge for viewers
The challenge for viewers is to see past the revolting behavior of the central character, a horrible narcissist and irredeemably bad parent, and to feel pity for him. Whether we end up embracing the idiot after a full season of offensive rants and blackouts remains to be seen. Captivating, but not fun.
Eldest daughter Fiona bears the brunt of the family pressure, since Mom left ages ago. She has to dilute the milk with water when there’s not enough and collect money from her siblings to pay the electric bill. As Fiona, Emmy Rossum (“The Phantom of the Opera,” “Mystic River”) has the second- juiciest role and shines through a range of temperaments. Rossum plays down her beauty with dark circles under her eyes and ratty clothes.
Fiona runs into slick but likable Steve (Justin Chatwin, “Middle of Nowhere”) in the opening episode, and a hookup blossoms into a romance.
Fiona’s siblings are a spirited bunch, more credible than they seem on paper: animal torturer Carl, smart-guy Lip, coupon-stealing Debbie, gay Ian (dating a married Muslim) and baby Liam. (No one knows why the baby is black, but, Frank says, “he looks a bit like my first sponsor. He and the ex were close.”).
To get by, the kids finesse a medley of theft, arson and creative cheating.
Macy isn’t on camera enough in the opening hour, and Joan Cusack is underused as neighbor Sheila, a ditzy mom who fancies herself a chef, with a daughter who rewards her tutors with sexual favors.
Meanwhile, neighbor Veronica (Shanola Hampton) irons, topless, in front of a camera for a Web porn business.
When Frank disappears in the second hour and the kids desperately search “the usual places,” the question nags: In tough economic times, will people be entertained by downbeat drama, even if leavened by tragicomedy?
Walter’s saving grace on “Breaking Bad” is that, because he has cancer, he will do anything to leave his family financially secure. Frank doesn’t seem to have a redeeming quality, other than his empty title as father. He’s just “Shameless.”
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
