George Michael

Why is the terrible Last Christmas box office gold?

Written by Emma Thompson, directed by Paul Feig of Bridesmaids, soundtracked by George Michael - and panned by critics. Why are audiences flocking to see it?

Last Christmas review - cliched festive failure

It seems fitting at this point to use one of the hoariest of film criticism cliches and say that this was a film that lingered long after I left the cinema. In this case, it lingered in the form of a tension headache caused by 103 minutes of mortified wincing.

A look back at George Michael's comedy cameos

He appeared in Christmas specials of Extras, The Catherine Tate Show as well as Comic Relief sketches with characters from Little Britain and Gavin & Stacey.

Watching Sarah Millican is like being gently tickled: strangely comforting and likely to produce the odd giggle. Tackling car shows, crime shows and quiz shows gives her the chance to make jokes about having George Michael as her sat nav voice and Countdown being easier now you can pause live TV. Bradley Walsh, Richard Osman and Quentin Willson respond to Millican's playful questions with grace, but the latter does look embarrassed when she talks him through her car's sanitary towel compartment.

Jason Byrne is an accomplished stand-up comedian, an expert in working a crowd and making them feel as if they are the stars of the show. All of which made his sitcom debut in Father Figure (BBC1) something of a mystifying misfire.

As if nicking your title off one of George Michael's best songs wasn't bad enough, Father Figure managed to commit every sitcom cliché crime in the book: dopey bloke, interfering mother, long-suffering wife, victim neighbours, bonkers relatives. All of it wrapped up in an unsavoury mess of vomit and poo 'jokes'.

It's an unholy marriage of Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and Mrs Brown's Boys, with Byrne as an Irish spin on Frank Spencer, a hapless idiot to whom disasters naturally occur - most of which involve spraying anyone who ventures across his path with everything from baked beans to chocolate mousse.

Byrne brings a certain haphazard charm to the part, but his material is pretty puerile. Still, if you find a child running around screaming 'I'm a human poo!' the height of hilarity - and the canned laughter soundtrack was having fits - then this is the show for you.

As is the 1970s, where a man protecting his genitals with the line 'You'll crush me Curly Wurlys!' would, at least, have been vaguely contemporary.

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.

Brilliant impressions by ace mimics Morgana Robinson and Terry Mynott on Channel 4's passable new comedy offering Very Important People.

But the dazzling duo's alleged all-out attack on celebrity culture was about as hard hitting as Daybreak.

Therefore, it wasn't very funny.

How mortified must Gordon Ramsay be that Terry has noticed he swears a lot? Wow!

And Danny Dyer will be reeling after Morgana depicted him as a bit of a Cockney. Who knew?

Why spoil Mr Mynott's seamless Bear Grylls with far-fetched tosh about him doing a George Michael in the Gents? Hee hee.

What VIP needs to do is hit 'em where it hurts. Below the hypocrisy belt.

Eg... Gord Almighty pretending he was a crack-spear fisherman when he couldn't catch a cold.

Or born contriver Grylls tucked up in a warm hotel when he was supposed to be braving the harsh conditions of the wilderness.

In fairness... don't suppose Frankie Boyle enjoyed being portrayed as a nasty little troll. And Jonathan Woss's ongoing midlife "kwisis" showed potential.

Go for jugular. Simply copying self-satisfied stars is pointless...

George Michael, Stephen Fry discuss HIV row

George Michael has revealed that he considered taking legal action over comments made by a producer of a documentary Stephen Fry did about HIV in 2007.

The build-up has been going on for weeks with everything from a "rude road trip" by the stars of The Inbetweeners to Blue Peter presenter Helen Skelton's daring Battersea Power Station highwire act, and a gruelling challenge that saw nine stars trek for five days across the Kaisut desert in Kenya. So, what can top that as the bi-annual charity fundraiser takes over the airwaves tonight?

Well, with a presentation team that includes Michael McIntyre, Lenny Henry, Graham Norton, Fearne Cotton, Jack Whitehall, Kevin Bridges, Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall, James Corden and Jack Dee there are certainly lots of laughs in prospect. There's a host of one-off sketches to look forward to from Miranda Hart, Harry Hill, Steve Coogan, Armstrong & Miller and the cast of Outnumbered. There are also Comic Relief spin-offs of MasterChef and The Choir, and special outings for Doctor Who and EastEnders.

As well as all that, there are performances from some of the biggest names in the music industry, including George Michael and Boyzone, and reminders why it's all happening, with reports on how the money raised in previous years has benefited the underprivileged in Africa and here in the UK. Of course, amid all the chaos, everybody's eyes will be fixed on the cash counter clocking up every pound raised by volunteers and fundraisers. In 2009 Comic Relief raised £80 million.

George Michael covers New Order for Comic Relief

Singer George Michael has recorded a version of New Order's hit True Faith to raise money for Comic Relief.