What to Binge Watch: `Shameless’ covers personal struggles through dark comedy

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Stevi Simonelli, Staff Writer

Running out of TV shows and movies to stream? The Purbalite is here to help, with another installment of our What to Binge Watch feature.

Anyone looking for a show full of everything from relationship drama to violence to dark comedy would enjoy Shameless. 

This classic series aired on Showtime from January 2011 to April 2021, totaling 11 seasons perfect to binge. All of the seasons can be found on Netflix.

Shameless focuses on the life of six kids living under the poor care of their alcoholic and drug addicted parents on the South Side of Chicago. Each sibling has a unique personality and different relationship with their parents.

Their mother is in and out of their lives, and award winning actor William H. Macy plays the father, Frank Gallagher. While Frank is a terrible father figure for his children, his character hilariously uses dark comedy to represent the discrimination and struggles Americans face.

To save her siblings from an abusive situation, oldest sibling Fiona Gallagher drops out of high school to take care of her brothers and sister. One main focus of the show is the importance of family.

Shameless uses different characters to focus on a variety of personal struggles, including issues such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and substance abuse problems. A main focus covered through leading character Frank Gallagher is gentrification. With little money available to most residents and the upper class buying homes on the South Side, small businesses struggle and property taxes rise. 

Shameless has such a large appeal that there is something in it for everybody. All of the characters face their own relatable struggles.