Shameless The Complete Season One
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C Telefilm: B
With
awful TV show after awful TV show getting made with no point, there was a time
when it was felt you could turn to British TV and find something different or
unique. Prior to cable TV, it was always
thought that British TV had a great freedom than its U.S. counterpart, but it
has far from exercised that lately.
Outside of some fine comedies, little has been made that has been
exceptional or impressive. Then Shameless The Complete Season One
arrived and though it was rough, it certainly had the boldest set-up of an
hour-long drama since At Home With The
Braithwaites and went further.
The story
involves a big family whose mother abandoned it years ago and whose father is
far from a role model. That leaves the
oldest sister unfairly saddled with being a de facto parent and that does not
work. The result is that many of them
have emotional dispositions and just about all of them become involved in sex
earlier than they might have otherwise.
It is also the way they become involved in various situations that can
even be disturbing. And yes, one is even
a gay male, but it is not handled pretentiously as it might be under PC
circumstances.
The seven
hour-long shows here (on 2 DVDs) are honest and deal with the way this
unfortunate situation might work its way out.
Instead of phony false humor, canned laughs and a fake family, any of
the humor is ironically real and it pulls no punches on how life can really be. The acting of the mostly unknown cast,
especially the youngest, is impressive and it does not become like a soap
opera. Whether the show can keep up this
momentum without wearing or selling out is one thing, but Shameless is a remarkable TV series at this moment on either side
of the Atlantic and especially for those who claim they love television, must
see TV.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is shot in digital High Definition and
this tradedown is soft and has the usual color and detail limits typical of
most HD-produced shows. With that said,
they dont gut the color as much as you often see. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has healthier
surrounds than many shows we have heard lately, even with 5.1 mixes. Extensive cast interviews are the only extra,
but it can be amusing.
- Nicholas Sheffo
