Shameless: The Complete Series Blu Ray Review (Warner Bros.)

Shameless is a 2011 family comedy television series created/executive produced/co-written by John Wells (The Pitt, ER, Animal Kingdom, Southland, Doom franchise, Third Watch, and The West Wing) and Paul Abbott (UK Shameless, Wolfe, Our Story, No Offence, Children’s Ward, and Touching Evil). It was directed by Iain B. MacDonald (The Punisher), Mark Mylod (Succession), Christopher Chulack (ER), John Wells (Burnt), Anthony Hemingway (True Blood), Mimi Leder (Deep Impact), Peter Segal (Tommy Boy), William H. Macy (Rudderless), John Dahl (Rounders), Emmy Rossum (Animal Kingdom), Stephen Hopkins (Predator 2), Scott Frank (The Lookout), Craig Zisk (Las Vegas), Danny Cannon (Judge Dredd), Regina King (Southland), and many others. It was produced by Michael Hissrich (The West Wing, The Pitt, My Own Worst Enemy, Third Watch, K Street, and ER) and others. It was a remake of the 2004 British television series with the same name. It lasted 11 Seasons on Showtime!!!! Six children which includes Fionna (played by: Emmy Rossum from The Phantom of the Opera, The Day After Tomorrow, Mystic River, and Poseidon), Lip (played by: Jeremy Allen White from The Bear, The Iron Claw, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, and The Birthday Cake), Ian (played by: Cameron Monaghan from Gotham, Click, Tron: Ares, and Amityville: The Awakening), Debbie (played by: Emma Kenney from The Conners, Epic, Bittersweet, and Roseanne), Carl (played by: Ethan Cutkosky from The Unborn, Happy Gilmore 2, Fred Claus, and Power), and Liam (played by: Brenden Sims from Cru and Christian Isaiah from 21 Bridges) there’s only one Frank Gallagher (played by: William H. Macy from Fargo, Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Air Force One, Psycho, Jurassic Park III, and The Cooler), the proud shady patriarch of the independent Gallagher family. They would probably be better without him but he always finds a way back into all of their complicated lives. When Frank’s not at the bar spending what little money they have, he’s causing problems of his own which leaves all of his family to fend for themselves in this cruel and tough world!!!! Shameless is one of the best family comedy shows for it’s first 8 seasons. It’s top notch humor mixed with some raunchy and very messed up scenarios. It kinda went downhill for the last 3 especially the last season which I honestly really didn’t like. It was one of those popular runs that should have been done way before despite it’s higher ratings. It’s a remake of the earlier British dark comedy, I might be in the minority for this opinion but I personally thought that the American version blew it away in almost every possible way. I always respected they let original creator Paul Abbott be involved with this update. Legendary producer John Wells put his own stamp on this unique and wild universe, it’s dysfunctional at it’s best. They brought in some heavy hitter directors for a variety of episodes and that really elevated it’s overall quality. It was always well written, each main character got their own shining moments and storylines here throughout the years. Shameless had the gift of making someone extremely likable to someone you couldn’t stand. They did this for several main roles including Fionna, Lip, Ian, and Debbie. Iconic character actor William H. Macy really shines as the loveable loser Frank Gallagher. No one plays unlucky better than him so this is the perfect role. Frank is a bad person for the most part and he mainly just cares about himself. He’s basically the villain for this but he does have his good and redeeming moments every once in awhile. Macy is so talented, he makes everyone around him better. He was the big name when this was first put together and the veteran really helped carry everything when it originally came out. He’s hilarious, vulgar, and he’s not afraid to make mistakes. The stunning Emmy Rossum is amazing as the mostly responsible Fionna Gallagher. She works non stop to help support her struggling family. She’s street smart and she manages to survive off very little for a long time. She has her own demons and later on she resembles her father at times. Shameless never felt the same when she left after 9. I understand, she was gifted and she wanted to explore more than this but I still wish she stayed around. Jeremy Allen White is the most consistent family member as the intelligent Lip Gallagher. He was the brains of the group but sometimes that was his downfall because he always thought he was too smart for everyone and it backfired occasionally. Regardless, he really developed more than any Gallagher when it was all done. He went from a kid to someone that could do anything that he wanted. He always had the potential to be so much more but he had some bad traits from Frank that continued to curse him at the worst possible times. Cameron Monaghan was probably the most underrated role as the bipolar Ian Gallagher. He was different from the others. He was more like Monica rather than Frank which necessary wasn’t a positive thing. He had his secrets but he got more comfortable with his life as he got older. He was very unpredictable and the audience never knew which version of Ian they were going to get. He had the talent to lead and he always tried to make stuff better after his issues. Debbie, Carl, and Liam were all interesting but I feel like the other 3 really outshined them for the most part. Emma Kenney, Ethan Cutkosky, Brenden Sims, and Christian Isaiah were all very good in Shameless. Sometimes, they just felt more in the background but they all had their own arcs that let show off their personalities a little more. Steve Howey (True Lies) as Kevin Ball and Shanola Hampton (Found) as Veronica Fisher were awesome as the Gallagher’s neighbors/friends. They gave them so many different stories to work with during the entire run and it always made the couple beyond entertaining no matter they were doing. They were very important to this world. They could have easily had their own spin-off. Noel Fisher (Final Destination 2) as Mickey Milkovich, Joan Cusack (Grosse Pointe Blank) as Sheila Jackson, Justin Chatwin (War of the Worlds) as Steve/Jimmy, and Dermot Mulroney (Young Guns) as Sean Pierce were the stand outs when it came to the recurring rules that showed up all the time in Shameless. The rest of the supporting cast included Michael Patrick McGill (The Office), Jim Hoffmaster (True Blood), Isidora Goreshter (Condor), Scott Michael Campbell (Suits), Kate Miner (Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon), Emma Greenwell (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies), Laura Wiggins (Rings), Paris Newton (We Baby Bears), Zach McGowan (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Emily Bergl (The Rage: Carrie 2), Ruby Modine (Happy Death Day franchise), Dennis Cockrum (Gangster Squad), Presley Schrader (Presley and Brock), Nichole Sakura (Superstore), Richard Flood (Grey’s Anatomy), Chloe Webb (Sid and Nancy), Elise Eberle (Salem), James Allen McCune (The Walking Dead), Harry Hamlin (L.A. Law), Sharon Lawrence (NYPD Blue), Chet Hanks (Fantastic Four), Luis Guzmán (Carlito’s Way), Amy Smart (Crank franchise), Sherilyn Fenn (Twin Peaks), Pasha D. Lychnikoff (Deadwood), Jane Levy (Evil Dead), Regina King (Watchmen), Ed Lauter (Cujo), Will Sasso (Young Sheldon), Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), Alan Rosenberg (The Last Temptation of Christ), Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years), Katey Sagal (Sons of Anarchy), Courteney Cox (Friends), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen), Fiona Dourif (Chucky franchise), Tim Thomerson (Trancers franchise), Mary Kay Place (The Big Chill), Jenna Elfman (Dharma and Greg), Bradley Whitford (The West Wing), Robert Knepper (Prison Break), Paul Dooley (Sixteen Candles), Oscar Nuñez (The Office), Sean Whalen (The People Under the Stairs), and many others. Shameless is excellent blend of chaotic humor, drama, romance, crime, relationships, redemption, family, and bad luck. The Gallagher family goes through hell, they all have their ups and downs throughout their experiences but it’s a fun ride. It shows the rough side of Chicago and what it takes to get past all of the bullshit that comes along with it. It’s full of betrayal, mistakes, bonding, and pure survival at any cost. They weren’t shy to go over the top and be ridiculous when it was needed. It never felt watered down. It had plenty of bad language, nudity, graphic situations, and various other things that pushed it to the limit. I wasn’t a big fan of the finale and how they ended everything in Shameless. It still felt unfinished and a little rushed when it all went down. Honestly, I’m surprised they never made a follow up movie or special because it definitely deserved better. Shameless is consistently entertaining, darkly hilarious, and a total blast for the most part. It has awesome replay value to it, I’ve revisted it multiple times over the years and it never gets old. This is a must watch when it comes to television, STRONGLY RECOMMENDED!!!! Let’s discuss this high definition presentations and list the special features from Warner Bros Pictures! These 1080 (1.78:1) transfers on all 134 episodes look much better than expected. I remember watching all of these when they originally aired on TV. Most of these were put out on Blu Ray right away except for a few seasons later on that were DVD only for a long time so it’s awesome to have the complete series in HD together for the very first time on home video. It has English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks for every episode on all 27 discs. Shameless has it’s fair share of outrageous moments that sound great when it comes to the audio for it’s 11 seasons. The theme song and soundtrack always popped out here. All of the dialogue is crisp, the chaos is elevated, and the music has huge boost to it. It has English SDH subtitles for every season. It has French subtitles for the first 7 seasons. It has Spanish for the first 5 seasons. It has German subtitles from season 2 to 5. Besides that traditional Mandarin subtitles is available for the original. Season 1 has two “Audio Commentaries” for the “Pilot” and “Frank Gallagher: Loving Husband, Devoted Father”. The first one features John Wells, Emmy Rossum, and Andrew Stern. The next track features Etan Frankel, David Nutter, Cameron Monaghan, and Jeremy Allen White. It has the 14 minute “Bringing Shameless to America”. It has the 11 minute “Bringing the Fun to Dysfunctional”. It has the 13 minute “A Shameless Discussion about Sex”. It has 12 minutes of “Deleted Scenes”. It has the 4 minute “Season 2 Sneak Peak”. Season 2 has the 19 minute “Behind the Scenes: Writing the Shameless Version. It has the 37 minute “A Shameless Actor Discussion”. It has the 7 minute “The Complicated Life of Fiona Gallagher”. It has the 7 minute “The Art of Acting Drunk”. It has 10 minutes of “Deleted Scenes”. It has the 4 minute “A Shameless Look at Season 3. It has the 4 minute “The Shameless Christmas Carol” music video. Season 3 has the 14 minutes “Where the Streets Have No Shame”. It has the 11 minute “The Many Sides of Sheila”. It has the 10 minute “An Officer and a Gallagher”. It has the 8 minute “A Lip Off the Old Block”. It has the 8 minute “Being Milkovich”. It has the 4 minute “A Messy Triangle”. It has 25 minutes of “Unaired Scenes”. Season 4 has the 15 minute “Being Gallagher”. It has the 11 minute “Shameless Neighbors”. It has “Deleted Scenes”. Season 5 has a little over 13 minutes of “Deleted Scenes” split up into 2 different sections. It has the almost 16 minute “Shameless Sex Love”. It has the almost 5 minute “Gentrify This”. It has an “Audio Commentary” for the episode “Tell Me You Fxxxing Need Me” with William H. Macy, Emmy Rossum, and Nancy Pimental. Season 6 has almost 35 minutes of “Deleted Scenes” split up into 2 different sections. It has the almost 9 minute “Shameless Shanola”. It has the almost 12 minute “Running the Table: A Shameless Conversation”. Season 7 has a little over 29 minutes of “Deleted Scenes” broken down into 2 segments. It has the almost 14 minute “Growing up Shameless”. It has the little over 2 minute “The Shameless Politics of Frank”. Season 8 has the 5 minute “My Shameless Sister”. It has the almost 8 minute “My Shameless Mentors”. It has a little over 36 minutes of “Deleted Scenes”. Season 9 has a little over 27 minutes of “Deleted Scenes”. Season 10 has a little over 14 minutes of “Deleted Scenes”. Season 11 has almost 11 minutes of “Deleted Scenes”. It has the little over 63 minute “Shameless Last Call”. There’s all kinds of bonus material spread across all 11 seasons for this complete series collection. I’m kinda surprised that they didn’t add anything new here after all these years. It has a nice big slipbox with 2 huge cases inside that have everything inside them. It’s a DVD sized set so it’s bigger than your typical Blu Ray. This needs to be added to your collection right away. It’s available everywhere right now including MovieZyng.com, CHECK IT OUT!!!!