Showtime v HBO : who wins?

To generalize and overstate, HBO takes unrealistic premises and makes them feel incredibly real whereas Showtime takes (somewhat) realistic premises and makes them feel absurd. There are exceptions, notably the late lamented Showtime series Huff, but by and large as I look across the Showtime roster I think: none of these shows seem realistic, and maybe they're not meant to, who knows? The epitome of Showtime extravagance is probably "Shameless." I've seen only a few episodes and won't watch any more, but it does have a few strengths, including a strong lead cast: William Macy, wasted as a wasted alcoholic dad that you just want to get off the screen as soon as possible; Joan Cusak, comically funny as an agoraphobic mom; Emmy Rossum, the 21-year-old daughter holding the dysfunctional family together, barely - she's a really interested actor whom we first spotted in the unappreciated Pasionada, years back. That said, the series is almost entirely without charm and there is barely a moment in it that I found lifelike or credible. The premise is, or seems to be, that families, even a family of six sibs and half-sibs living without adults in a high-crime Chicago neighborhood, can get along on their wit and with occasional petty thefts and scams. Even if you go so far as to suspend all disbelief and accept that these people could form a family, there is nothing about the group that in any way speaks to the trouble and trauma such an assortment would endure; all of the serious issues they run up against are brushed away with comic disdain: Oh, sure, car theft, cheating on tests, having sex with a teen under the table while mom and dad chat in the kitchen, smoking dope with the principal, public drunkeness, insurance scams - all are just opportunities for hilarity. I can't even convey the absurdity of this. Shameless indeed.