Episodes and Shameless

The second episode of Episodes was the kicker tonight. Matt LeBlanc was top-notch and seems to really be having a good time goofing on himself. His 'character' of Matt LeBlanc can turn on a dime from being smart and sensitive to an absolute clod. Tonight he was talking about a documentary he had recently seen on children with Tourette's Syndrome. 'Matt LeBlanc' thought it was hysterical. Damn if I didn't think him talking about it was hysterical, too. This is easily one of the funniest sitcoms of the year.

Tonight's episode of Shameless had much less of patriarch Frank (William H. Macy) passed out on the floor and was all the better for it. A drunken Frank got punched out at his other residence the local watering hole The Alibi and when he stumbled home he took it out on Ian, bloodying his son's nose. Fiona's new hook-up Thiefy McHottie (also known as Steve) was incensed and thinking he was doing the family a favor he dumped a passport-less Frank in Toronto when he was doing a run to Detroit and took a detour. (The timing of this seemed a bit off as Chicago to Toronto is easily an 18 hour round-trip and Steve was back the next day fresh as a daisy but I don't write the show so they don't have my expertise to rely on, but I'll forgive them because they get the other Chicago details like Oberweis right.) Frank wakes up on a park bench and is soon arrested by the Ontario Provincial Police and once in custody loudly protests that he is a US citizen. But with no passport to prove it his protests fall on deaf ears and an outraged Frank goes off on a very funny and topical rant about the snowless Vancouver Olympics and further insult when the Canadians could not get the Olympic torch to light properly at the opening ceremonies. Steve eventually gets Frank back but still incurs Fiona's wrath. We also learn in this episode that the family of seven spends just $120 a week on groceries and also covers utilities while Frank spends over $700 a month at The Alibi. TV critic Ken Tucker said he hates this show but I find it very funny and wry and irreverent and above all, well-acted. We'll see where we are at renewal time.