Alison Graham

It's the final series of My Family, which is being retired by the BBC after 11 years. So perhaps now is not the time to marvel at how this strange, pantomime sitcom has managed to last for so long. The deeply resistible Harper household squirm, mug and double-take their way through an opening episode that sees brat-daughter Janey the subject of three marriage proposals from comedy half-wit men. As the gags fall like dead birds in a nuclear winter, stridently stupid paterfamilias Ben Harper (Robert Lindsay) and his wife, Susan (Zoë Wanamaker), each choose their perfect suitor for Janey. It is a very long half hour.

Now this could be fun, because tonight a trio of really disparate guests make themselves comfy on the sofa: Jack Dee, James McAvoy and drum roll Liza Minnelli! We know how much Norton loves a gay icon, judging by his glee at recent appearances by Bette Midler and Lady Gaga, but surely Minnelli beats them all. She talks about her life and career, of course, and also sings live. It will be delicious to see what she makes of Jack Dee, promoting a new series of his doleful sitcom Lead Balloon, in that often uncomfortable juxtaposition of a megastar and a cheeky British comedian they've never heard of (remember Maggie Gyllenhaal's bewilderment when faced with Russell Howard?). Bona fide Hollywood action man McAvoy (hasn't he come a long way since Shameless?) will discuss his role in the latest X Men movie, X Men First Class.

Robert Popper's vaguely autobiographical sitcom isn't black-hearted, cruel, vituperative or blushingly filthy, yet on C4 earlier this year it still secured a devoted following of viewers who liked its inherent good-heartedness and lack of guile. Certainly this E4 rerun is very welcome and might help to keep fans going until the arrival of series two. Popper has adapted his own early family life to bring us the Goodmans: Mum, Dad and two grown-up kids, who gather round the dinner table every Friday. Mum (splendid Tamsin Greig) is daffy and obsessed by MasterChef, while Dad (Paul Ritter) is a bit bonkers, and has a bizarre obsession with his yellowing collection of ancient New Scientist magazines. It's all a bit Mike Leigh, only funnier.

If you missed this superior biographical drama when it was shown earlier this year, here's a good chance to catch up. Ruth Jones is mesmerising as Hattie Jacques, a beloved comic actor who became part of a domestic ménage with adored husband John Le Mesurier and sexy younger man John Schofield. The story is irresistible: Schofield (Being Human's Aidan Turner) meets Hattie after a charity event and the two are quickly in the grip of an electrifying sexual passion. Bizarrely, even incredibly, Schofield moves into the Le Mesurier home and the marital bed, with John banished to the attic. Yet Stephen Russell's script judges no one as it reveals a marriage that, in its own strange way, was rock-solid, with Hattie and John sharing a lifelong devotion, even after their divorce. Ever the gentleman, John takes the blame for the break-up. Hattie is a touching drama that, for once, doesn't perform a hatchet job on an adored British comedy figure.

It takes a brave man to front a daft show about so-bad-they-are-good films when he's equipped with a truly execrable script, as is the case here. But maybe that's the point. Anyhow, David Walliams is at his most camp and arch as he introduces two hours of clips from some real stinkers. Awfully Good Movie Moments is quite good fun, particularly if you wish to reacquaint yourself with what must surely be the worst sex scenes ever filmed, those between a flailing, slapping Juliet Binoche and Jeremy Irons in Damage. But wait, maybe Heather Locklear snogging the Swamp Thing is even more dumb and disturbing. Or what about two evil dolls in a sexy clinch in Bride of Chucky? Walliams roams far and wide, looking at dreadful death scenes (including one involving a carrot that must be seen to be believed), horrible accents (hello Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins and Don Cheadle's toe-curling cockerenee in Ocean's Eleve]n) and his top five most annoying film characters (Dakota Fanning's screaming brat in [i]War of the Worlds). Mind you, possibly the most disturbing sight of all is of Walliams dressed as Demi Moore at her potter's wheel in Ghost.

Yay, Graham's back and once again there is a reason to stay in on Friday nights. He's terrific, and has injected bright new life into the post-news chat-show slot vacated by you-know-who last year. I love the dynamic of the Norton sofa, where guests turn up en masse rather than separately, which leads to some funny and occasionally weird interaction, or lack of interaction (remember a worried-looking Maggie Gyllenhaal staring in bafflement at comedian Russell Howard?). So far in Norton's reign, my favourite odd couples are big, smiley Hollywood hunk Bradley Cooper, who took a shine to our own Jo Brand, and one of tonight's guests, Catherine Tate, who was "romanced" by rapper 50 Cent the last time she appeared. Tate, last seen as Howard Donald in Comic Relief's Fake That, joins her old mucker and former Doctor Who, David Tennant. Grammy Award nominee Josh Groban provides the music.

Though overlong and episodic, this 2006 drama based on Kenneth Williams's diaries is worth sticking with for a tour de force from Michael Sheen as the tormented comedian. He has the trademark flaring nostrils and almost insane, leering campness beautifully nailed down, but his real skill lies in the delicate unpeeling of the many layers of Williams's complicated personality. There are flashbacks to his dreary childhood but Fantabulosa! homes in on Williams's glory years in Hancock's Half Hour and Carry On films. Thanks to his unsparing, posthumously published diaries, there's little private left of Williams's private life. We know, for instance, of Williams's fear of his own homosexuality, and Sheen portrays the comic's unsatisfactory encounters with great poignancy.

Adam arrives for dinner at mum and dad's, but things seem a little off-kilter. Dad Martin (Paul Ritter, who should be crowned a comedy king in a special ceremony) is dressed in a suit, the table is laid with flowers and "mum's posh bowls" - and there's an extra place set for dinner. Of course, it's a trap, one that Adam (Simon Bird) walks straight into when mum (super Tamsin Greig) announces that Tanya Green will be joining the Goodman family for their end-of-the-week get-together. Poor unsuspecting Adam has been set up on a date by his infuriatingly well-meaning mother and what follows is excruciating: an acutely painful succession of burps and nosebleeds from dad and inappropriateness from mum ("Give her a kiss hello, Adam"). But even these levels of raw embarrassment count for nothing when weird neighbour Jim (Mark Heap) arrives with Winston, his lugubrious dog. Winston has swallowed Jim's keys, which is the cue for a toe-curling sequence with man, beast, a newspaper and a twig. It's the last episode of Robert Popper's cheerfully silly comedy. Oh, how I will miss it. There'd better be a second series, Channel 4.

Prepare to stop up your ears and cover your eyes because Candy Cabs is LOUD, shrieking its presence with gaudy pink cabs, sets and characters. It's one of those pallid, female-populated, female-directed "comedy dramas", all blowsy, bosomy and Northern, where men are hopeless and women are noisily sensible, but a bit scatty when it comes to fellas. It's like Real People magazine brought to life. I hated every single second, but I'm sure for someone out there spending an hour with a group of women who set up a women-only cab company and get involved with unsuitable men won't feel like being trapped in a lurid, pink plastic hell.

Tonight's Friday Night Dinner, chez the Goodmans, is cooked by hopeless dad (Paul Ritter) as mum (Tamsin Greig) is immobile after spraining an ankle. Of course, it's a disaster as the meat is rigid with overcooking and makes terrible noises when dad tries to carve. "Should meat squeak?" the family wonders aloud. Poor Adam - this is supposed to be his birthday treat, along with a coffee table book on "heroes of the SS", a thoughtful gift for a young Jewish boy from his dad. It's another gloriously silly episode of Robert Popper's utterly endearing sitcom, which strays into Curb Your Enthusiasm comedy of embarrassment territory when dad bumps into an old girlfriend, the brassy Sheila Bloom (Frances Barber). Or Bitchface, as she is ungallantly known. Sheila is obsessed with her Mercedes to the delight of her tormentors, who find new and inventive ways of sniggering at her - not behind her back, but right in front of her face. It's packed with minor pleasures, including mad neighbour Jim and his supernaturally calm dog, and a piece of farce involving grandma in unsuitable clothing.