Shameless

2011
4.8
6.58K reviews
TV-UNRATED
Rating
Eligible
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The Complete First Season episodes (12)

1 Pilot
1/9/11
In the series premiere, we meet the fabulously dysfunctional Gallagher family of working-class Chicago. Dad's a drunk; Mom split long ago; eldest daughter Fiona tries to hold the family together; eldest son Philip (Lip) tutors the neighborhood girls in physics and is repaid in kind; middle son Ian is grappling with homosexuality -- and being grappled by his married Pakistani employer at the corner liquor store; youngest daughter Debbie is stealing money from her UNICEF collection to help put food on the table; ten year old Carl is a budding sociopath and arsonist; and toddler Liam is -- well, he might actually be black, but nobody has a clue how. Meanwhile, the electric bill is due, there's no money, and someone has to look after the baby... It's one day at a time for this crazy dysfunctional family, but their mutual love and support for each other always see them through.
2 Frank the Plank
1/16/11
Drunk as a skunk, Frank has a run in with Karen Jackson's father and returns home to take it out on Ian. The next day is Friday and Frank is nowhere to be found, which is a bit odd since he never misses disability check day. The family starts a manhunt and panic sets in when a body is found under the El. But Frank turns up in Toronto -- with no passport and no clue as to how he got there, and Steve has to figure out how to get him back to Chicago.
3 Aunt Ginger
1/23/11
Having blown off Steve, Fiona turns her attention to Tony (guest star TYLER JACOB MOORE), the cop who's had a crush on her since childhood. After having sex in his cop car with Fiona, Tony pursues a relationship with her. Steve, however, has not given up the fight. A woman from the Office of Inspector General suspects that someone may be stealing and cashing social security checks belonging to Aunt Ginger, the Gallagher's elderly aunt who owns the house they live in. Now, Frank and his whole clan must find their aunt and bring her home before the government woman comes back the next morning to interview Aunt Ginger. Ian rejects the advances of Mandy Milkovich (guest star JANE LEVY), one of the girls in his class. So, she tells her three thug brothers that Ian took advantage of her and they set out to give Ian a beat down.
4 Casey Casden
1/30/11
Debbie, sad and lonely after Aunt Ginger leaves, steals a little boy from a birthday party. In classic Gallagher style, the family hatches a plan to return the toddler safe and sound without attracting attention from the Chicago Police Department, who has made the kidnapping a top priority. Karen, in complete defiance of her father, starts to tease Frank sexually. Not knowing what to make of it, Frank keeps himself busy with booze, picking up Sheila's meds from the pharmacy and concentrating on finding the missing boy. What began as an innocent lie for Kevin (series star STEVE HOWEY) to protect himself from a hot girl ultimately becomes a proposal of marriage for Veronica (series star SHANOLA HAMPTON).
5 Three Boys
2/6/11
Knowing that Kevin is already married, Fiona tries to talk Veronica out of moving forward with the marriage. After Veronica's mother dangles a cash gift for her wedding day as an incentive, however, Fiona and the Gallaghers pitch in to help pull off the (fake) wedding of the year. Steve busies himself on a hunt to steal the perfect Lexus and Fiona finds herself in the passenger seat. Ian and Kash try to take their relationship a little further, but Ian may not be ready. Meanwhile, during a routine medical disability examination, Frank learns that he has a tumor -- and spirals out of control as he deals with the news.
6 Killer Carl
2/13/11
When a letter from Carl's teacher arrives at the Gallagher home, Fiona is thrown into action to prove it's a suitable domicile for rehabilitating a delinquent. Lip has been contributing to the family bank account with proceeds from test-taking for his fellow students. His reputation for excelling at the SAT is getting around, and word spreads to some people he would rather have kept unaware. The Kash and Grab continues to get pilfered by a local hood, and Kash (guest star PEJ VAHDAT) and Ian are both ashamed at their inability to stop it. Meanwhile, Frank's bad business sense continues to yield consequences he's unprepared to embrace.
7 Frank Gallagher: Loving Husband, Devoted Father
2/20/11
It's time for Frank to pay the piper -- specifically, the two goons who are demanding their six thousand dollars, or else. This sends Frank into a panic, requiring every brain cell to try to think of a way to get the money fast. He finally stumbles onto a risky solution that might work --provided his family helps him out. Speaking of the Gallagher family, they have their own troubles. Ian is fed up with Mickey's bullying of Kash and goes to do something about it, leading to a violent scene. Meanwhile, Fiona finally succumbs to Steve's badgering and agrees to take a night away with him -- leaving Liam in Sheila's protective arms. Who better, since the agoraphobic Sheila (guest star JOAN CUSACK) never leaves home. But what happens when Liam wanders outside the house...?
8 It's Time to Kill the Turtle
2/27/11
When Frank gives up drinking, Carl and Debbie enjoy having their dad back despite Lip's warning it won't last. Meanwhile, Fiona barely has time to notice Steve's suspicious behavior as she scrambles to earn money and find a better job. Kev and Veronica take in a foster kid, Ethel (guest star MADISON DAVENPORT), and are surprised to learn she's a married member of a polygamist religious-sect. When Lip meets with a college professor, Karen begins to question the seriousness of their relationship. Ian continues to pursue Mickey (guest star NOEL FISHER). Sheila worries Frank is no longer attracted to her.
9 But at Last Came a Knock
3/6/11
Frank has some settlement money coming his way. The only catch -- he needs his ex-wife's signature on the documents. Debbie goes on a mission to find out if Steve is cheating on Fiona, only to discover Steve may not be who he says he is at all. Kev and Veronica receive a visit from Ethel's baby son Jonah...and the Department of Child and Family Services. Lip needs money to take Karen on a date so he turns to Steve for help. Meanwhile, Eddie reaches out to Karen and invites her to a Purity Ball. Things don't end well when Frank's ex-wife Monica (guest star CHLOE WEBB) shows up, announcing her plan to take Liam. Kash catches Ian and Mickey going at it. An enraged Fiona moves out of the house and in with Steve.
10 Nana Gallagher had an Affair
3/13/11
Monica's return to the family wreaks havoc on the Gallagher clan, leaving the children determined to find out if Frank is their real father. Fiona, disgusted with Monica, moves in with Steve next door and tests the waters of living outside the Gallagher home. Karen decides to trust Eddie and his seeming desire to be close to her when she agrees to join him at the Purity ball. Frank hits a new low when he uses Carl to stop a disability worker from tampering with his free money from the state.
11 Daddy's Girl
3/20/11
Debbie convinces Fiona to get involved with her Classroom Moms where Fiona finds a new friend in the alluring Jasmine (guest star AMY SMART). Tony begins to unravel the truth about Steve's car-stealing business. Lip and Ian set out to uncover which of their uncles is Ian's dad. When Frank loses his worker's compensation, he decides to teach the kids a thing or two and let's them join in his hunt for a new and dangerous job. Meanwhile, Karen's destructive, downward spiral leads her on a mission to destroy her father in any way she can.
12 Father Frank, Full of Grace
3/27/11
With Tony having discovered Steve's true livelihood and threatened with jail if he doesn't skip town, Steve tries to convince Fiona to leave with him. Fiona grapples with how to get Lip and Ian out of jail following their arrest for car theft. Frank and Karen's secret is discovered and Frank must run for his life, hiding first from Karen's father, Eddie and eventually, from his own son, Lip.

About this show

Based on the long-running hit UK series, this outrageous family drama is stars Emmy® winner and Oscar® nominee William H. Macy (Fargo) as a working class patriarch of an unconventional Chicago brood of six kids headed by the eldest sibling (Mystic River's Emmy Rossum) who keep the home afloat while their dad is out drinking and carousing.

Ratings and reviews

4.8
6.58K reviews
Megan C.
November 19, 2020
If you grew up in a household of poverty, chaos, filth, parent who inflicted narcissistic abuse and or suffered from chronic bouts of substance abuse and you (one of the older kids) was forced into the role of parent (parentification, which yeah, is yet another form of abuse all on its own), and tasked with 'surviving' on your own while also caring for the well-being of your other siblings, than you will completely relate to the characters in this show. If you know what it is like to have next to no food in the house, how to wash your clothing in the bathtub because the washer broke a year ago (and no one is there to get another one, nor can you, a teenager, afford to buy one), there is no hot water or heat, again, you will be able to relate. If you were raised by loving, emotionally stable, financially responsible parents who actually took care of you - welcome to the f*ing party. You get to learn how we're not all raised the same and why some people absolutely hate their selfish, abusive birth-givers while also having a strange trauma bond with their relatives/abusers. We just want our parents to be just like yours; loving, supportive. Instead, ours aim to financially and emotionally use us for their own gains. And they don't care if the heat is on, the diapers are changed, and if there is food in the house. Some of us start out in life with miserable childhoods and young adulthoods, struggling day in and out, stuck in survival mode (doing everything we can just to stay alive and together), only to have those same siblings and mix of relatives stab you in the back later. This show covers it all in layer upon dysfunctional layer. General abuse and abusive behavior mirroring, hyper-sexualized youth, narcissism, substance abuse, hypervigilance, on-going anxiety, parentification of children, normalization of abuse, etc. You name it, it happens, one shocking, twisted episode at a time. Overall, the show is shocking (to some who haven't lived through some of this), well-done, well-written (mostly), and entertaining in a dark, dysfunctional, not so healthy kind of way. Most of the time, you're just holding out hope one day these kids will grow up to have better lives and try not to mess up too much along the way. Of course, some don't quite land as well as hoped. This is not a light hearted family comedy/drama.
46 people found this review helpful
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Renee Crooks
October 12, 2014
A typical (low income) family in America. Disfunctional all the way they stick together and they actually care about each other. Feona the oldest daughter is the glue the holds them together. She has vowed to take care of her siblings (5 or 6, maybe more). Feona has heart. These kids have no mother and an alcoholic father. If not for Feona they would have been seperated and sent to foster homes and orphanages. A normal life is not possable for Feona. Frank (the father) is always close to dieing and sits on a pitty pot, whining about life and expecting things he has never earned....like respect. Then there Lip, he has all the makings of a college graduate but will have to jump through hoops to get the education he deserves. The obvious hardships for Lip become apparent when he has trouble getting to class on time. There is more to do in a day when your in a large family that is poor, than just get up and go to class. One sibling realizes he is gay and another young girl is struggling with puberty and boys. The youngest is not related......who knows where he came from. I love this show. Very well written. Entertaining.
539 people found this review helpful
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Vicki Boland
June 12, 2021
I have loved every season ive watched. It's funny, but sad only because I know it's a hard reality for to many kids. My upbringing while full of to many funerals and some health issues (asthma), I had a good and easy life with 2 loving and mentally stable parents, who kept food on the table, a roof over our heads in a safe neighborhood, in a small town with some issues. I however was unable despite my best abilities to give my children the same. So I can relate to this show from my children's
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