The return of "Shameless"

Apparently there is now a US version of Shameless, starring William Macy as the equivalent of Frank. That seems a bit unlikely. I wonder whether it will be shown in the UK - such remakes of British TV shows rarely seem to get shown here - perhaps The Office is the main example.

And the Uk version has returned for season 8, with 22 new episodes. We have been intermitent fans of this programme, sometimes watching it regularly, sometimes missing whole series and catching up later. In fact, I didn't see the first two or three series at all, though Linda did. They were first on when I was still a long distance commuter and 10:00 was too late for me to stay up and watch something during the week. I missed the first 8 series of ER for the same reason

Two characters have stood out for me in the last couple of series. Karen is just about hanging on and appeared for about 15 seconds in the episode screened last night. Like many of the characters in Shameless, she is likeable for sheer raunchiness.

But the absolute stand out character for me is not in the show any more - the totally mad policewoman from series 5 and 6. Way over the top in every bit of police work she did, I loved just about every moment she was on screen. A shame she's left.

Trapped up to her waist when she fell through a weak floor while handcuffed to the gay-McGuire son, his reading of some of his writings has a surprising effect

Her failed attempt to recreate the same effect later on