Radio Times on Harry Hill

The last series showed signs of wear and tear, possibly because it is a hugely labour-intensive show as Harry Hill and his small team of writers watch unimaginable amounts of television, most of it pap.

Harry Hill returns for another series of unflaggingly funny send-ups and observations of the week's TV. His jovial, yet deadly, mockery of television's oddities is so superb, it's increasingly tempting to think that some of our nuttiest programmes are being produced simply to keep Hill in spoofable material. Alas, this time there'll be no X Factor for Hill to get his lampooning hands on. But then, his ability to dredge up the unexpectedly surreal delights lurking at the depths of the TV ocean is part of his high-collared genius.

Although there were times when the last series of TV Burp lost its mojo, there's still no other straightforward laugh-fest quite like Harry Hill's weekly demolition of bad telly. And it did have its moments, like his remorseless ribbing of The X Factor and Jimmy's Food Factory, not to mention Simon King on Autumnwatch. The clip-meister returns for a new series to brighten Saturday nights with a bit of wit and sauciness, poking fun at lazy and idiotic pieces of digital-television nonsense, plus the likes of Emmerdale, EastEnders, Coronation Street and anything else that takes the fancy of Hill and his small squad of assiduous, square-eyed researchers.

TV Burp Australia

Here's the Australian version of Harry Hill's TV Burp, hosted by actor/DJ Ed Kavalee. The general humour seems the same, the set's similar, the use of clips is identical, but there doesn't seem to be as much spirit to proceedings. I think TV Burp is so entwined with Harry Hill's brand of madcap humour that it's difficult to translate with someone else. See the full article for clips.

Why I Love - Harry Hill

The man is a modern day hero, and frankly, he's just not being recognised as much as he should be, even though he does have two shows on at primetime on a Saturday and has won a pretty impressive stack of awards. But if rumours are to be believed, he may soon be taking TV Burp off to Sky, which would be a great loss to terrestrial TV.

Harry Hill negotiating £3m move to Sky

TV Burp host Harry Hill locked in discussions about taking hit show from ITV to BSkyB, with contract due to finish in April.

This could possibly be the most deranged variety show you'll ever see, the only place on earth where you can watch Christopher Biggins pretending to be Boris Johnson, and Jerry Hall impersonating Katie Price. If that doesn't draw you in, how about Joe Pasquale as Lady Ga-Ga? Or Ulrika Jonsson as David Beckham? No? Surely Vanessa Feltz masquerading as James May is irresistible. As is Eamonn Holmes as Elvis Presley. And David Gest as Elton John. Les Dennis as Gary Barlow... The list goes on, and just gets odder. The All Star Impressions Show could be completely awful or it could be enjoyably barmy. It certainly has a very good pedigree, being co-produced by Steve Coogan's and Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's production companies. And it has a certain surreal gloss that could be quite winning. Harry Hill will make a guest appearance, though we don't know whether he will reprise the Morrissey impression that won him Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes all those years ago.

Last Thursday's edition of QI was interesting for the guest-appearance of US comedian/actor John Hodgman, a regular on The Daily Show and "PC" in the original "Mac Vs PC" commercials. Hodgman's a big fan of the show, and was recently filmed extolling the virtues of QI during a public appearance where rallied support for a campaign to get BBC America to broadcast it (article). Clearly someone at QI noticed Hodgman's support and he was here rewarded with an appearance on the gameshow itself. I'm sure he enjoyed himself, but it made for an awkward half-hour...

Put simply, Hodgman was one of QI's worst guests - although not as bad as scruffy Scotsman Phil Kaye. It didn't help that his presence (not just as a rare guest from overseas) was highlighted by the unfair decision to stick him in the middle of teammates Sandi Toksvig and Sean Lock for the show's first ever three-person team. It felt very much like Hodgman had been crowbarred into the episode, and the show thus felt unbalanced. It also brought too much attention to Hodgman, who was suddenly given a weight of expectation - after all, why else would they upset the delicate balance of QI if he wasn't going to be comedy gold?

Of larger concern was the fact that QI's brand of comedy generally relies on wit and a certain level of surrealism. Sean Lock and Bill Bailey have that corner of the market sewn up between them. Americans in general don't seem to have the madcap comedy gene in their makeup. I'm struggling to think of any US comedians who have similar acts to Monty Python, Eddie Izzard, Vic Reeves, or Harry Hill. So, Hodgman was instantly lost during most of the rounds, while everyone else swam around talking bizarre nonsense.

Maybe Hodgman would be able to find his footing if he came back for future editions, as I'm sure it was very nerve-wracking to suddenly find yourself in the show you dearly love and have publicly championed. It's also worth mentioning that the comedy panel show subgenre is practically unknown in America, so he came in a little unskilled. At times, Hodgman just settled for answering questions in a straight-forward manner (which helped him win the show), in-between forcing out a few half-hearted attempts to be offbeat and funny. Still, at least he actually DID get involved. There are far worse examples of British comedians guesting on panel shows and saying literally four sentences. Which is even worse when you stop to remember these shows can take hours to film and they edit it down to a half-hour of highlights.

Harry Hill may be in bother with telly watchdog Ofcom as 12 viewers complained over jokes about the Nazis. The TV Burp star compared a factory line of Vienetta ice creams to "German tanks rolling into Poland". And he made a potato swastika while mocking BBC show Jimmy's Food Factory.

Now Harry Does a "Delia" for Harvester

There's a new phenomenon, loosely called the TV Burp bounce of the week.

Comedian Harry Hill has found a fan in Harvester restaurants after mocking them on his hit show, TV Burp, and unwittingly driving hundreds of new diners into their establishments.