Harry Hill

This could possibly be the most deranged variety show you'll ever see, the only place on earth where you can watch Christopher Biggins pretending to be Boris Johnson, and Jerry Hall impersonating Katie Price. If that doesn't draw you in, how about Joe Pasquale as Lady Ga-Ga? Or Ulrika Jonsson as David Beckham? No? Surely Vanessa Feltz masquerading as James May is irresistible. As is Eamonn Holmes as Elvis Presley. And David Gest as Elton John. Les Dennis as Gary Barlow... The list goes on, and just gets odder. The All Star Impressions Show could be completely awful or it could be enjoyably barmy. It certainly has a very good pedigree, being co-produced by Steve Coogan's and Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer's production companies. And it has a certain surreal gloss that could be quite winning. Harry Hill will make a guest appearance, though we don't know whether he will reprise the Morrissey impression that won him Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes all those years ago.

Last Thursday's edition of QI was interesting for the guest-appearance of US comedian/actor John Hodgman, a regular on The Daily Show and "PC" in the original "Mac Vs PC" commercials. Hodgman's a big fan of the show, and was recently filmed extolling the virtues of QI during a public appearance where rallied support for a campaign to get BBC America to broadcast it (article). Clearly someone at QI noticed Hodgman's support and he was here rewarded with an appearance on the gameshow itself. I'm sure he enjoyed himself, but it made for an awkward half-hour...

Put simply, Hodgman was one of QI's worst guests - although not as bad as scruffy Scotsman Phil Kaye. It didn't help that his presence (not just as a rare guest from overseas) was highlighted by the unfair decision to stick him in the middle of teammates Sandi Toksvig and Sean Lock for the show's first ever three-person team. It felt very much like Hodgman had been crowbarred into the episode, and the show thus felt unbalanced. It also brought too much attention to Hodgman, who was suddenly given a weight of expectation - after all, why else would they upset the delicate balance of QI if he wasn't going to be comedy gold?

Of larger concern was the fact that QI's brand of comedy generally relies on wit and a certain level of surrealism. Sean Lock and Bill Bailey have that corner of the market sewn up between them. Americans in general don't seem to have the madcap comedy gene in their makeup. I'm struggling to think of any US comedians who have similar acts to Monty Python, Eddie Izzard, Vic Reeves, or Harry Hill. So, Hodgman was instantly lost during most of the rounds, while everyone else swam around talking bizarre nonsense.

Maybe Hodgman would be able to find his footing if he came back for future editions, as I'm sure it was very nerve-wracking to suddenly find yourself in the show you dearly love and have publicly championed. It's also worth mentioning that the comedy panel show subgenre is practically unknown in America, so he came in a little unskilled. At times, Hodgman just settled for answering questions in a straight-forward manner (which helped him win the show), in-between forcing out a few half-hearted attempts to be offbeat and funny. Still, at least he actually DID get involved. There are far worse examples of British comedians guesting on panel shows and saying literally four sentences. Which is even worse when you stop to remember these shows can take hours to film and they edit it down to a half-hour of highlights.

Harry Hill may be in bother with telly watchdog Ofcom as 12 viewers complained over jokes about the Nazis. The TV Burp star compared a factory line of Vienetta ice creams to "German tanks rolling into Poland". And he made a potato swastika while mocking BBC show Jimmy's Food Factory.

Now Harry Does a "Delia" for Harvester

There's a new phenomenon, loosely called the TV Burp bounce of the week.

Comedian Harry Hill has found a fan in Harvester restaurants after mocking them on his hit show, TV Burp, and unwittingly driving hundreds of new diners into their establishments.

There's the pleasure of watching television, and then there's the enhanced pleasure of watching television through the lunatic, bespectacled eyes of Harry Hill, the doctor-turned-comedian who returns for the ninth series of his quickfire lampooning of the week's TV idiocies and inanities. With his ear-brushingly high collars, his line of pens emblazoning his breast pocket and his silly schoolboy's dribble of badges on his lapel, Hill has always looked like a ventriloquist's dummy that somebody forgot to put the wig on. You probably wouldn't want him as your GP. But as a palliative to the surreal absurdities thrown up by television each week, Hill is welcome medicine. His early potshots will almost certainly include skewering studies of the revealing minor moments in The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing that you may have missed the first time round. Who but Hill would identify, for instance, the garish range of facial expressions employed by Louis Walsh on the judging panel of The X Factor or the tongue-lolling, puppy-dog mug of contestant Eoghan Quigg begging you to vote for him? For a weekly post mortem of TV's lesser-spotted manias and neuroses, Hill may be just what the doctor ordered.

Harry Hill proves strange acts can be mainstream gold

The big-collared peddler of nonsense is back as a permanent feature in the nation's living rooms.

Return of the hilarious comedy sketch show in which Kevin Bishop takes potshots at Gok Wan and Harry Hill.

Along with two packets of Munchies and a strawberry Nesquik, one of our Friday night treats is this smashing comedy, which flicks between spoofs of TV shows, films and adverts. Somehow, the previous series managed to win nothing at the British Comedy Awards, despite several nominations, and this travesty will hopefully be righted with Kevin's new potshots at the likes of Simon Cowell.

Kevin Bishop is a kind, if hyperactive, lad in real life. The best moments of his show are when he's being rude about stuff we hate: the gurning of Horne and Corden, the stupid Gok Wan rhyming and anglophile Americans. There's also a nice take on Frost/Nixon sequels. Parkinson/Emu, Best/Wogan and Reed/Aspel. The duff moments are his take on House (don't mess with Laurie) and a sketch that's a bit too close to John Thomson's Bernard Righton. We've not seen his Harry Hill yet as it wasn't in this ep, but it better be good. Or else.

Sky offers Harry Hill £400k a Burp

Harry Hill is poised to quit ITV after being offered a double-your-money deal by Sky.

As Seen On TV review

The brilliance of Harry Hill appears to have intimidated the BBC that the philosophy of relentless mockery should be avoided, so As Seen On TV instead worships at the altar of pseudo-celebrity.