Shameless - The Complete Sixth Season

No matter life's poverty and the punishments, the Gallagher clan pulls through. They may not invent the noblest solutions to their problems, but in "Shameless: The Complete Sixth Season," when it comes to keepin' on, this family has South Side sovereignty.

Frank (William H. Macy) sees the potential for money from the government when his daughter, Debbie (Emma Kenney), gets pregnant. But Fiona (Emmy Rossum) wants her 15-year-old sister to get an abortion. The younger girl should be responsible, Fiona insists, more like her. She just ran out on her husband and got promoted at the diner. Probably because she's sleeping with the boss (Dermot Mulroney), who has just fallen of the wagon and is back into his heroin addiction.

A woman's reproductive rights becomes the political debate within the family, until Fiona gets a taste of her own medicine. Turns out she's expecting, too, but who's the father? Could be any number of guys.

Lip (Jeremy Allen White) is still busting it up in college, mostly in his dorm room with his MILFy professor. But he may have competition. (Not from the woman's husband. He's cool with the whole thing.) The teacher has another college boy in her life.

A more responsible professor teaches Lip that you can always be a fuck-up if you go into education. It's called tenure. But that line of work isn't going to help you pay back student loans.

Carl (Ethan Cutkosky) gets out of juvie and brings home a big, black brother to live with him. With his new cornrowed hair, Carl is blind to skin color. Still, he has an opinion on the subject, and that is -- as he tries to convince the ladies -- his skin is black.

His African American principal even agrees to back him on this, as long as the little delinquent sells him an illegal firearm. After all, school shootings are getting out of control, the educator maintains, and a guy has to protect himself.

The next door neighbor, Kev (Steve Howey), gets a taste of success when his shitty bar becomes a hipster hotspot. But the newly gentrified neighborhood is starting to piss off the folks who like to keep their lawns covered with trash. There's no reason everyone can't get along. The solution turns out to be accidental manslaughter.

And our favorite Gallagher homo, Ian (Cameron Monaghan), isn't doing so well, after his boyfriend, Mickey (Noel Fisher), is locked up. Mental illness sucks. Plus it prevents you from staying in the army. Now, Ian has no purpose in his life.

Then something big and brawny comes to the rescue. Firemen!

This Blu-ray collection contains all 12 episodes of the sixth season, plus two tacky featurettes and unaired scenes.

For connoisseurs of the irreverent, "Shameless" is the series for those with discriminating bad taste.

"Shameless: The Complete Sixth Season"
Blu-ray ($39.99) or DVD ($29.98)
www.sho.com