The TV scene has no shortage of weird characters but it's hard to find one that matches up to Frank Gallagher. The Shameless character has an endless list of sins and negative traits. He is selfish, mean, manipulative, irresponsible, lazy, and careless. The best part is that he doesn't seem to care. Frank enjoys being Frank.
Frank's endless conflicts with his numerous children also keep the series going. Despite his misdemeanors, Frank's story is so interesting that the series has remained on air for over a decade. A master schemer, the following are some of the craziest things Frank has done for his own benefit.
Eying Dottie's Pension
At one point in the series, Frank dated a woman named Dottie who had a heart condition and needed a transplant. His intentions with her soon became clear.
Frank didn't like her. His goal was to be awarded her government pension, once she died. But she was taking too long to be with the Lord and Frank was getting impatient. When the hospital called Dottie's residence to inform her that a match had been found, Frank picked up the phone he spoke in a manner that implied Dottie had already died. This meant Dottie missing out on the transplant.
Calling CPS On His Kids
In Season 3, Frank's children had enough of him. They assaulted him and kicked him out of the house, forcing him to live on the streets as a homeless person.
In an effort to get revenge on them and get back to the house, he called Child Protection Services (CPS) on them. As a result, the children were taken to foster homes. The court also made his daughter Fiona the legal guardian of all the children. Unfortunately for Frank, Fiona found out that he was behind the call and banned him from the house completely.
Ruining Fiona's Wedding
By Season 5, Fiona was beginning to fall for her older boss, Sean. She began sleeping with him even though she was married to Gus. When she and Gus divorced, Sean proposed.
At the wedding, Frank wanted to walk Fiona down the aisle but she refused. Angry, Frank decided to ruin the wedding altogether. He lied to Fiona that he had seen Sean doing drugs even though Sean had been clean for months. Fiona became heartbroken and the wedding had to be called off.
Giving Hymie Drugs
Among Frank's many flings was with a woman named Sheila Jackson. Soon, Sheila's daughter, Karen, gave birth to a child named Hymie. Sadly, Hymie was diagnosed with Down Syndrome.
Given the child's condition, Karen refused to raise him. Sheila was thus forced to step up but she had a difficult time. In order to ensure that Hymie remained calm whenever he wanted to have a good time with Sheila, Frank would give him narcotics. Extreme is the word here.
Profiting From Ian's Manic State
Ian didn't like taking his bipolar disorder medication, so he occasionally skipped them. Whenever he did this, he would experience manic phases.
During one of his manic phases, he believed he was a deity and labeled himself Gay Jesus. He even managed to convince people that he could perform miracles. He was clearly spiraling out of control but instead of helping him, Frak decided to profit off his state by selling Gay Jesus T-shirts to Ian's followers.
Flirting With His Daughter To Get A Liver
Frank eventually had to pay the price for his heavy drinking. He was informed that he needed a new liver to continue living. As expected, his children refused to be donors.
Desperate, he looked for his long-lost daughter Sammi. Frank had abandoned her mother years ago after she refused to get an abortion. Sammi—who was into older men—didn't know that Frank was her father so she began flirting with him. Not wanting to ruin his chances of getting the liver, Frank flirted with her too.
Taking Advantage Of Sheila's Agoraphobia
The reason Frank began seeing Sheila in the first place was that he simply wanted a peaceful place to stay. His kids were giving him headaches and he figured that since Sheila rarely went outside, she'd have no knowledge about his bad reputation.
He thus carried himself as a man who could offer everything that her husband Eddie was denying her. Sheila gladly took him in. Whenever she looked like she was going to recover from her Agoraphobia, Frank would panic and do things to ensure she remained in that state.
Faking Carl's Cancer To Get Make-A-Wish Benefits
There's nothing Frank wouldn't do for money. He is shameless after all. When he realized how generous people were towards cancer patients, he decided to use this to his advantage.
In Season 3, he convinced his second youngest son Carl Gallagher that he was suffering from cancer. He went as far as to shave his head and send him to a Make-A-Wish camp where real cancer patients were. He also gave him antacids and convinced him they were pills for his cancer. Unfortunately for Frank, Carl got kicked out of the camp when he requested to see a counselor's breasts.
Using His Son's Sperm To Get His Girlfriend Pregnant
Frank's new girlfriend, Ingrid wanted to have children. Unfortunately, because of his bad lifestyle habits, Frank had a low sperm count. Despite the setback, he was eager to grant Ingrid her wish.
He went home with a cup from the hospital and bribed his son Carl with $100 to deposit sperm in it. Frank took the sperm back to the hospital where the doctors used it on Ingrid, thinking it was his. To his shock, Ingrid became pregnant but with septuplets, thus adding a bigger burden to Frank.
Getting A Fake Aunt Ginger
Before the start of the series, Frank's aunt Ginger died of a drug overdose at a party. In order to lose the house and the social security cheques, he buried her in the backyard. The state thus believed she was still alive and kept sending the money.
At one point, the state began suspecting that something was off. To avoid getting busted, he forced his children to steal a senile Alzheimer's patient from a nursing home and pretend she was Aunt Ginger. It worked but he made Fiona hate him more after revealing that Aunt Ginger was buried in the backyard.