Shameless

Meet the Gallaghers. Mother, Monica left the family and has gone MIA for the past 21 months; father, Frank (the main character of the show)'s a hopeless drunk; eldest daughter, Fiona is playing Mom to the younger siblings and trying to keep everyone in order; eldest son, Lip (Philip)'s an academic genius and a science whiz who makes a living out of doing assignments for other fellow students or sitting for their SAT exams and giving physics tuitions to a neighborhood girl who's paying him with sexual favors; the third kid, Ian, is in Army ROTC in school and he's gay- which was first discovered by his brother, Lip; youngest daughter, Debbie's got a loving heart and she's also pocketing some of the money from the charity she's collecting year round; younger son, Carl is a rule breaker and likes the thrill in making other kids and animals suffer; and the toddler, Liam, is black and no one knows how.
I've been watching this TV series whenever I can - when the kids are settled or asleep. Pretty interesting. Such a dysfunctional family- 6 kids with a selfish and pathetic excuse of a father who's always claimed he's a proud and devoted single father, but spends his days and nights drunk and passed out on practically anywhere possible; a mother who could abandon her kids when the youngest was only 2 months old; yet it's amazing how the siblings manage to make ends meet every day, of course with Fiona, being the main caretaker and decision-maker who has to work endless dead-end jobs with minimum wages to make sure the bills get paid. It goes to show how affected the kids will be when the parents are screwed up. Nevertheless, I like the strong bonds between the independent siblings and how they stick together through all the good and mostly rough times. It's fun, witty, hilarious, naughty and downright senseless at times, but enjoyable at the same time. It's reality. Hits me on the head as a reminder again and again, that whenever I feel like I'm stuck in sh*thole, there are many out there who has suffered or is suffering more. If the Gallaghers can pull it through, what excuse do I have, really?

I'm watching the US version, based on the original award-winning British one on Channel 4 with the same name.
They say the British version is better (I reckon it must be, judging by the fact that it's an award winner), but I love the actors and actresses in the US version.