Lee Mack

TV Heaven, Telly Hell

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the worlds of Stars In Their Eyes and the cult 70s show The Indoor League combined? No, me neither, but the result is rather amusing.

They are two of Lee Mack's choices as he gatecrashes Sean Lock's studio for a chat about the best and worst TV programmes.

It's great when TV programmes are taken out of context, especially ones from the 70s. And The Indoor League is TV gold. Where else could you see cheese skittles being played? Sean is looking forward to the spin-off series, Cheese Skittlers' Wives.

Sean's smashing show

We all love some television shows and hate others, but you may be surprised by one of comedian Lee Mack's favourites, which he reveals on the first episode of the new series of TV Heaven, Telly Hell - Stars In Their Eyes (Channel 4).

The show's presenter - and fellow comedian - Sean Lock, explains: "Lee chose a brilliant moment when the real Chris De Burgh met the pretend Chris De Burgh. It is one of the creepiest moments."

The writing is sharp and clever, if a little self-indulgent: the inclusion of three zany elements (depressive author, Lee's job packing Christmas crackers, and circus skills class) in a single episode seemed to me to be trying a bit hard, when the core of the comedy has to be the interplay between Lee, Kate and Tim.

Unfortunately some of the best lines were lost; Lee's delivery was so fast that he didn't give them space to breathe, and the audience's early laughter often swamped the killer line.

A more serious problem is the location: whatever one may say about Men Behaving Badly, Extras, or even Two Pints of Lager, they all have a distinctive locale, a real place where these characters and their relatives live. In contrast, Not Going Out is set in a vague generic city, the same city as Coupling, with an anonymous flat, anonymous bar, anonymous office, and characters with no history.

It had to happen sooner or later. BBC One has finally found a sitcom worth staying in for.... When was the last time any sitcom delivered a gag as perfect as: "Just because Thora Hird can't climb stairs doesn't mean she's a Dalek"? If you can think of any situation where you could shoehorn in a one-liner like that, I'd love to hear it. In the meantime, Not Going Out looks like the perfect solution to Friday nights.

The joke in the modern sitcom was fast becoming an anachronism until Not Going Out came along... in Not Going Out we have a punning gag-rich half hour that speeds along without drawing breath.