Among its numerous permits from Chicago Department of Transportation – to block or otherwise affect traffic for filming – the show has requested traffic control on the sidewalk on the west side of The James Hotel.

“We are in need of [intermittent traffic control] on the sidewalk on the side of The James Hotel for the cast to leave the hotel and get into vans without ‘fan’ interruption,” reads permit DOT872263.

The permit, issued on October 12, is for traffic control through Saturday along Rush Street from Ontario Street south to Ohio Street.

The cost of police and other city services is paid for by the production company, according to Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events. Communications Director Christine Carrino confirmed on Monday that producers of Shameless “requested a permit to implement some brief crowd control.”

Though set in Chicago, the series is filmed in Los Angeles but once each season, cast members fly to Chicago for exterior filming. The show’s eighth season will premiere on November 5.

The series is about an alcoholic, portrayed by William H. Macy, who, according to the Internet Movie Database, “lives in a perpetual stupor while his six children with whom he lives cope as best they can.”

Filming locations this week include Daley Plaza on Tuesday. The filming permit describes the scene as “protest taking place, character gets arrested in scene.”

Another scene will be filmed on Tuesday on a CTA Green Line train at the Ashland station west of the Loop.