Bruce Forsyth

With Graham Norton set to join BBC One's chat-show line-up, toothy comedian Alan Carr attempts to fill the hole that Norton left on his defection in 2004 with this new show. Sadly, it just appears to be a rehash of Norton's So formula - sketches with celebrity cameos, an irreverent take on showbiz news and the internet. On the plus side, Carr's guests are presenter Bruce Forsyth, actress Heather Graham and actor-cum-journalist Ross Kemp. Pet Shop Boys provide the music.

The comedian Alan Carr is certain to be a distinctive chat show host, each week offering what the programme-makers call "a good old natter with three celebrity guests from the showbiz world". No surprise appearance from Barack Obama, then. His guests tonight are Bruce Forsyth, the US actress Heather Graham (Scrubs, The Spy Who Shagged Me) and Ross Kemp, whose documentary series In Search of Pirates on Sky1 has become one of the highlights of the week's viewing. The Pet Shop Boys will close the show with a performance of their latest single, Did You See Me Coming?

Everybody has a favourite Morecambe and Wise sketch - including those too young to see the shows when they first aired.

Thanks to repeats and tribute shows such as these, even babies are familiar with the 'Andrew Preview' music sketch and the time newsreader Angela Rippon got her pins out for the boys.

Both pop up in this homage to the great comedy duo, hosted by lifelong fan Paul Merton.

It's lovely watching a presenter who genuinely cares about the subject. He's joined by people who worked with Eric and Ernie, including Angela, Bruce Forsyth, conductor Andre Previn and writer Eddie Braban - who provided acres of material for the duo and wrote many of their famous Christmas specials.

Watching the footage again, you realise just how pants today's sketch shows are. Who will remember Tittybangbang in 30 years' time, let alone pay tribute to it?

Bruce Forsyth played Cecil Slinger, the manager of Supafare Supermarket in this ITV sitcom which ran from 1985-86. He's on a power trip and the staff are rubbish...you can guess the rest. The writing was poor, the ratings were dire and so ITV pulled it. Not Brucie's finest hour.

The first rule of sketch comedy is: if you're going to tell a bad joke, make it short. Elbowing its way into a market already crowded by everyone from Lucas and Walliams to Armstrong and Miller, The Kevin Bishop Show stuck admirably to this maxim. Bishop, the man behind the sporadically hilarious Star Stories, had me chewing my fist in embarrassment at times, and laughing, too.

I particularly enjoyed the American version of Countdown (the letters board read: HAMBURGRE) and Bruce Forsyth's audition for The Shining (axing his way through a door, Heeeeere's Brucie! Nice to see you...). There was satire, including spoof adverts for the fragrances 'Publicity by Sienna Miller' and 'Recession by Gordon Brown'.

By keeping sketches short and silly, Kevin Bishop and his show just about carried the day. But nothing he dreamt up made me laugh as hard as the talking tree.

In Channel 4's British Comedy Award-winning Star Stories, Kevin Bishop was a revelation. Each week his schoolboy-cheeky caricatures of everyone from Tom Cruise to Alex Ferguson stole the show. So Channel 4 gave him his own sketch show.

The pilot earlier this year was, not to put too fine a point on it, poor. All the more reason to rejoice that this first episode of the series proper is in a different league, with a string of impishly silly, very funny ideas, mostly film or TV spoofs.

It doesn't hurt that the pace is ridiculously fast: if you don't like one skit, don't worry, another will be along in seconds.

There's the Daily Mail DVD giveaway that includes Bruce Forsyth's try-out for The Shining; there's Pimp My Ride with Stephen Hawking; there's Sophie's Choice - The Musical; and a visit to Simon Cowell's brother Brian, who runs a convenience store in Rotherham. Best of all there's a running joke about Jonathan Ross that makes it safe to assume Bishop won't be invited on the former's chat show any time soon.