Jason Byrne, veteran of the comedy stand-up circuit, makes the transition to TV sitcoms with this adaptation of his own Radio 2 series.

It's deeply traditional stuff - Byrne is a hopeless suburban dad (no, the title isn't riffing on George Michael) whose infuriated ineptitude is a source of endless hilarity to his chortling family.

Byrne's Irish so his mum is played by Pauline McLynn - because that's the sitcom law.

Another old-fashioned family sitcom involving an interfering Irish grandmother, broad slapstick and a studio audience? Mrs Brown's Boys has a lot to answer for.

Comedian Jason Byrne adapted this from his Radio 2 series. He plays groaningly hapless suburban dad Tom, who, in the opening moments, accidentally showers his prissy next-door neighbours with hot baked beans then pulls their garden fence down.

As he prepares a dinner to apologise, his eccentric family intervenes (Pauline McLynn plays his mad mother) and the meal spirals towards disaster via poo jokes, a stolen wedding cake, pratfalls and vomit.

Why do so many comics find their voice on the radio?

As Jason Byrne swaps radio for TV with his new BBC1 sitcom Father Figure, Radio Times asks why so many comedies start off on the radio waves...

Do you find it hilarious when small children say cheeky things like "poo!"? Do you shriek with delight when a grown man is unable to cook a meal without resorting to ironing the steak?

Do you find it wholly plausible that someone would steal a massive tiered wedding cake and bring it to a dinner party as their contribution to dessert? Do you find that watching people being repeatedly covered in food, falling over, or falling over into food makes you roll on the floor laughing? Then, just like the studio audience who go into paroxysms at every scene, you'll love Father Figure.

A sort of combination of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and those kids' shows where adults are constantly being gunked, Jason Byrne's sitcom is a transfer from Radio 2. His amiable stand-up persona is replicated as hapless but well-meaning dad to smart-arse kids, husband to past-caring just-open-the-wine wife, son to overbearing parents (Pauline McLynn as his mum is more glamorous than her Father Ted character Mrs Doyle but no less a nag), friend to a wasted Michael Smiley and neighbour to some cardboard people who are only there to react in horror to his gaffes.

The show is relentlessly middle-of-the-road, determinedly populist and wholly idiotic. Were it not for the sweary-words and a few double entendres, it would be pitched firmly as family entertainment and has clearly been commissioned to try to cash in on the unexpected success of Mrs Brown's Boys.

In its favour, I suppose it's a bit better than 
Ben Elton's megaflop 
The Wright Way. It will no doubt run 
for years.

TV Preview: Father Figure

Father Figure is certainly not The Wright Way-bad, it's just that I expected something, if not more subtle, certainly more inventive from Jason Byrne.

Jason Byrne interview

The comedian talks to Jasper Rees about his new BBC One sitcom, Father Figure, and his addiction to doing stand-up gigs.

For those who couldn't make it to Edinburgh for the feast of comedy served at the recent Fringe festival, here's the next best thing. Kevin Bridges, no mean comic himself, playing host to the first of two stand-up selections. Russell Kane, Seann Walsh and Jason Byrne are the biggest names but don't miss the chance to catch the deliciously downbeat Andrew Lawrence, an underrated talent who's been known to squeeze laughs out of euthanasia. You'll die laughing.

TV commissioners must breathe a sigh of relief when the Edinburgh Festival comes around, offering as it does an opportunity for cheap programming with mass appeal. This week offers two such easy wins. On Friday at 10pm, the ubiquitous Seann Walsh introduces the slightly edgier end of popular stand-up at in BBC Three's Late Night Comedy Spectacular, which showcases Tom Rosenthal and The Rubberbandits.

But two-parter Comedy Festival Live 2013 is a more mainstream affair, packed to the gills with familar faces from Mock the Week, Live at the Apollo et al: Jason Byrne, Russell Kane, Andrew Lawrence, Seann Walsh (again)... And all hosted by Kevin Bridges. At some point this televised stand-up bubble will burst. But not for a good while yet, it seems.

Amnesty Secret Comedy Podcast episode 5

Recorded live at the Edinburgh fringe, the latest Amnesty podcast features standup from Mary Bourke, Benny Boot and a song from The Noise Next Door. Plus chat, secrets and rants from Josh Widdicombe, Mark Thomas and Jason Byrne. Hosted by Christian O'Connell.

Jason Byrne on doing stand-up about his lazy eye

He might have built his Fringe show around a childhood problem with a lazy eye, but there's nothing workshy about comedian Jason Byrne. A massive tour and a new BBC TV sitcom follow his best-selling Edinburgh run.