Currently, Showtime's Sunday night lineup features Calfornication, Shameless (and new series House of Lies). On the surface, Shameless and Californication couldn't LOOK any different. One is about a family struggling to make it day by day, hustling constantly. The other is about a rich guy who lives a rich guy lifestyle who would probably use the word "hustle" only in the context of "urban patois."
I enjoy both Shameless and Californication, but in different ways. Sure, they both have problems, but on balance I would probably categorize them both as "good but not great shows." Shameless is still a relatively new show -- it's only in its second season -- so I am willing to forgive missteps and chalk them up as growing pains. Californication, on the other hand, has been on the air for five long seasons. The interesting connection between the shows, and the relation to the way that I enjoy them is this: I like Calfornication because of David Duchovny, while I like Shameless in spite of William H. Macy.
Admittedly, this is a strange (and borderline counter-intuitive) way to view these shows and these characters, given that Macy's Frank and Duchovny's Hank are virtually cut from the identical cloth. Sure, Hank's cloth might be fine Italian silk and Frank's might be burlap, but we're splitting hairs at this point. They're both raging alcoholics. Hank might be a much more functional alcoholic than Frank, but Hank is an alcoholic nonetheless. The both have families that they rarely see, and when they do see them they wind up doing more harm than good. And most importantly, in the Worlds of Hank and Frank, Hank and Frank are the suns; everything revolves around them.
So if the characters are so similar, why do I hate one and (usually) enjoy the other? I think it has to do with casting. I have said all along that William H. Macy was woefully miscast in the Frank Gallagher role. Don't get me wrong, Macy is a GREAT actor. He's just wrong for this role. I don't believe for one second that he has the balls or the charisma to pull off the shit that he does and not wind up dead in a ditch (where he belongs, by the way).
Duchovny, on the other hand, oozes self-deprecating charm. He gets beat up -- and deservedly so -- in nearly every episode, but he survives on his wit and his handsome smarminess. Frank might be witty when he needs to be, but I don't think anyone is going to far enough out on a limb as to call him "handsome." At least I won't. Hank is a messed up guy, but he's a messed up guy that has the ability to channel that pain into something postitive (a book, a screenplay). Frank can't (or won't) channel his angst into anything other than another pint of Old Style.
Both Frank and Hank have irreparably damaged their respective families. However, throughout the series of Californication, Hank seems to genuine regret this. He has tried time and time again to repair things with Becca and Karen (with varying degrees of effort and sincerity, of course). Conversely, Frank used his toddler son as collateral for a gambling debt. He seems to have no regrets about the position he has put his children in.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Californication is a better show that Shameless. (Although this current season of Californication has been its best in years.) But I am saying that Duchovny is a far superior leading man when it comes to Sunday nights on Showtime.
Great points about the differences between the two shows -- though I think you mean the *characters* portrayed by Duchovney and Macy, right?
I don't watch Shameless as I'm simply not interested in watching a show about an alcoholic dad not taking care of his kids. Weirdly, I suppose one could make the same argument about Californication, a show that I continue to watch (and you're right, this season is turning into its best since the first few).
Interestingly enough, Don Cheadle's character on House of Lies falls right into the same bracket as Frank and Hank as far as their family dynamic goes - Kahn just happens to get contracted out by worse people than himself to balance his likeability. Him and Hank share that confident charisma, and they seem to have a moral line buried somewhere beneath their issues, whereas no one is worse than Frank on Shameless, and his desperation knows no limits.