A variety of fictional characters appear in the American comedy-drama television series Shameless , created by Paul Abbott. First broadcast on Showtime on January 9, , it is based on the British series of the same name , and features many of its characters. Shameless is set in Chicago's South Side [ 1 ] and tells the story of an alcoholic father, Frank Gallagher, and his seven children who take care of each other and create better lives despite Frank's poor influence.
Abbott grew up in a family in the United Kingdom much like that portrayed in the British series. Francis "Frank" Gallagher William H. Macy and, in flashbacks, Jacob DeMonte-Finn is the father of six children. He is a deadbeat alcoholic and drug addict who relies on his children to get by. Since Frank refuses to work and most of the children are underage, the family lives far below the federal poverty threshold for a family of their size.
As mentioned by one of his sons, Lip, Frank is intelligent and finished high school before he attended college to study psychology, where he met Monica. They dated for about 2 weeks before he dropped out of school and they got married. Frank has sex with almost any available woman to support himself.
For instance, he begins a relationship with Sheila Jackson when he discovers that she gets maximum disability benefits for her agoraphobia. He is the biological father of Sammi, Fiona, Lip, Debbie, Carl, and Liam, but not to Ian, who is presumed to be the son of Frank's brother Clayton, making him Frank's nephew as well as the children's half-brother and cousin.
Despite that, he refers to Ian as his son. Frank is also the grandfather of Chuckie, Frances, Fred, and Carl's unnamed twins caused by another scam by Frank. The children do not think highly of him and refer to him primarily by his first name, though there have been occasions where they have called him "Dad".
