Shameless

Viewers who like their family comedy filthy and crowded, with no one learning a lesson by Friday, will feel at home. Frank often talks straight to the camera before the credits, and the Gallaghers answer every crisis with a scheme, like borrowing an elderly nursing-home resident to pose as Aunt Ginger for a Social Security worker. Emmy Rossum gives Fiona a tired competence that holds the chaos together.

The early episodes are crowded and slow.