Shameless: Series 6 [DVD]

It's so easy for a long-running series to 'lose it': favourite characters disappear; ideas run out; cliches set in. Has Shameless turned sour? Not in the least! It is still the most watchable series on telly, still (despite some of its subject matter) fresh as a daisy.

Ian decides he wants to leave the Chatsworth Estate and you assume he's gone for good, like Fiona, Steve, Kevin, Veronica, Marty, Lip etc...but no! He is back in later episodes. It's astonishing to think how many new characters have entered the Shameless universe, replacing some of the old ones, and how effectively they've blended in. There are a couple of new ones here but, for me, Carl is the star: he is truly the Huckleberry Finn (or possibly Tucker Jenkins) of our times.

Meanwhile, the Maguires almost take over from the Gallaghers as the dominant family in the series, but again we don't mind. Special praise must go to Ciaran Griffiths's Mickey Maguire who has grown from a bit-part to a masterful comic creation from his walk to his snarl, yet also vulnerable and not unlovable. He must be easy to write for and gets some of the best plot lines.

To those who criticise Shameless for its amoral stance on contemporary life, consider this: did Minder's Terry McCann or perhaps James Bond (and there's a great Bond-themed episode) ever get a dose of the clap, as Carl does here? As for Paddy Maguire, the effects of him pushing heroin on the estate come back to haunt him in a dark, stark and totally compelling storyline spread over several episodes. Unlike The Simpsons which, with rare exceptions, winds back the clock at the beginning of each new episode, here all the characters' lives develop as a result of what has happened - and they certainly have to live with the consequences of their actions.

With Shameless, you never know what's coming next. Its ultimate success must be that, for all its faults, isn't the Chatsworth Estate somewhere we'd all give our back teeth to live on ourselves?

I live in Germany and got hold of the first serie some years ago from an English co-worker. Ever since then I am a true fan of this show and can never wait until a new serie come out. Up to now I watched all of them. Sure you can not relate to all the things that go on on Chatsworth estate, since topics like drug using and sex practices are trivialized too much, but you can laugh and suffer with the characters. I also hope this show to go on for many more series and maybe my favourite characters, Veronica and Kev, will come back again some time.
This serie 6 has been more dramatic than the other 5, not quite as hilarious, but nevertheless worthwhile watching. Unfortunately we do not have anything similar to Shameless on German TV, but then again I have never known families so close knit like the Gallaghers or the McGuires over here.....

I am an avid Shameless fan and have watched all the series repeatedly. So when I saw series 6 it was a blow. It is entertaining, I did enjoy it, but compared to previous series it was a disapointment. Perhaps the writers are running out of ideas as some of the storylines seemed very out of character or slightly bizarre.

Other reviews have mentioned it but I will again. Mimi and Paddy's marital difficulties in the series just seem so out of the norm, throughout each series they are portrayed as a husband and wife still very much in love with each other. This series changed all of that, they barely spoke in most episodes. As for Paddy having an affair him and Mimi could never seem to have sex in previous episodes because of a medical condition he has (can't remember the name).

Carl makes a new friend in Danny, a character who then disapears ar the end of the series. [Thankfully leaving Ian a house to live behind in] He was a completely unneccesary character whos storyline just did not seem in sync with the rest of the series. If they so badly wanted an excuse to give Ian a house to live in on his own, could he not have just won the lottery?! It would have made more sense.

Finally the relationships between Mandy, her abusive boyfriend, Jamie and Karen wore thin for me. Again in what seemed like out of the blue Karen's character "changed" and she felt the need to have sex with Mandy's boyfriend.

While I did enjoy parts of this series I hate to say it but I wander if Shameless will end soon. The writers seemed out of ideas and consequently changed many of the characters usual behaviour to meet new (and unrealisitic) storylines. Series 7 has just started on TV so hopefully it will be better!