James Blunt

With sketches featuring Riverdance and James Blunt, new sketch show The Ginge, The Geordie And The Geek (BBC Two) was scarcely straining to be intensely topical satire.

And what a blessed relief that was: here was a sketch trio more concerned with getting its jokes right rather than flaunting its cleverness or political correctness in our faces.

There were misses as well as hits but, with their gangster gulls and amorous ventriloquists, Paul Charlton, Kevin O'Loughlin and Graeme Rooney hit the mark, a dash of surreal imagination added to what is, at heart, traditionally crafted comedy.

They like running about in their underpants, which was vaguely mystifying, and a sketch about cracking the female mind code came off as lame. But a couple of dance numbers were inspired. Watch the last three minutes of episode one and if you don't laugh, you're probably dead.

James Blunt linked to new sitcom with Jack Whitehall

Singer James Blunt has been linked to a return to showbiz - in a TV sitcom.

A best-of compilation proving that this has been yet another strong series. Your hosts include Tinie Tempah, who was confident enough not to try to be funny all the time, but was funny when he did try; and James Blunt, who was even more confident in that he did try to be funny all the time, and was. At one point Blunt had Phill Jupitus doubled over laughing at a naughty joke about the Pussycat Dolls. We can only hope Blunt devotes more and more of his time to comedy.

Meanwhile, the myths surrounding Alice Cooper's rock antics gave the show's gag-writers one of their best nights, and earlier this month Cilla Black made a surprise appearance.

Video: Bill Bailey reworks Gary Numan's Cars

Bill Bailey pokes fun at Nick Clegg, the Pope and Simon Cowell in his stand up show "Dandelion Mind".

But the comedian told BBC Breakfast that singer James Blunt stood out as an easy target for comedy.

His show, which is about to tour the UK, mixes musical re-workings with observations on contemporary life.

He's a great stand-up and I love his sitcom, Not Going Out. So my expectations were already ridiculously high for Lee Mack's new talk show, Lee Mack's All Star Cast which made its debut on BBC 1, Friday night. I wasn't disappointed.

Despite the fact that it was all fairly shambolic and chaotic - like it had been shot and edited on a shoestring budget for Channel 5 - the strength of Lee Mack's character and his sharp Northern wit kept it entertaining and fast paced from beginning to end.

During the show guests Frank Skinner and Fern Britton were invited to guess who various audience members were supposed to look like and choose their most embarrassing stories - all very Graham Norton, though somehow much more engaging. Lee Mack was also great in his ability to take the piss out of his guests without them taking umbrage.

But without doubt the best bit of the show was the sketch which saw Mack in his bed sit trying to get Tess Daly to ditch her hubbie 'Peter Kay' and sleep with him while being serenaded by James Blunt taking off his monster hit, You're Beautiful.

It was all reminiscent of Eric Morecambe at his best (indeed there was an Eric Morecambe poster on the door of the bed sit). And Tess Daly's acting skills were a revelation. She could have found it all rather embarrassing but really went along with it.

Looking forward to the next one, though I hope they manage to sort out the editing!

Lee Mack, the comic and star of the sitcom Not Going Out, gets his own vehicle. It's a glorified chat show with celebrity guests, stand-up, sketch and musical acts - starting tonight with James Blunt. The gimmick is that the studio audience and viewers at home are invited to take part too. Mack makes amusing company but it's rather Graham Norton lite, and, similarly to John Bishop's Britain, which went out in the same slot, feels like a comedian carrying a slightly awkward format.

Northern naughty-texter Manford stretches the definition of "rocks" with a musical line-up of crooner James Blunt and drab Iberian ballad prince Enrique Iglesias. Luckily the comedy is much stronger. Russell Kane, Lee Nelson, Pete Firman and Susan Calman join the mighty punster Tim Vine, author of such efficient rib-ticklers as "Velcro: what a rip-off".

Poor James Blunt. Ever since he shuffled onto the music scene with his pre-pubescent twang and feminine looks, he's become something of a pop-culture hate-figure. His name is not only a by-word for a wet blanket, but cockney rhyming slang for the rudest word in the English language.

It can't be easy for comedians and TV presenters lumped with the singer - who's currently promoting a new album - to resist the temptation to mock and berate the singer. Astonishingly, Graham Norton managed to restrain himself when Blunt appeared on his Friday-night show, but surely the acid tongues of Ian Hislop and Paul Merton wouldn't show him such mercy; surely, they would lay into Blunt and rip him apart, ruthlessly mocking his every word?

Well, perhaps they would have done, were they given the chance. But Blunt proved to be the funniest panellist on the programme last night; perhaps even the funniest off the series so far. As he regaled stories of dinner with Bill Clinton and Cher and joked about his army days, he outshone even Merton, who was on excellent form himself.

When Hislop called him a "cool dude", he snapped back: "Thanks, Dad" and the audience roared with laughter, delighted by yet another Blunticism. It was actually fellow panellist Nick Robinson who found himself the butt of his teammates' jokes, most notably when footage of his recent outburst at a protester's banner was shown.

Even Blunt's appalling leather jacket went unmentioned; such was the distracting sophistication of his humour. He might have trouble shaking that rhyming slang from his name, but perhaps "James Blunt" will now be a by-word for "self-deprecating wit of the first order".

The satirical news-based panel game has been running since 1990 and is now in its 40th series. The first guest host to face the crossfire from Paul Merton and Ian Hislop is the Sherlock actor Benedict Cumberbatch; later in the series, Jeremy Clarkson and Martin Clunes will take the chair. The first guests to join them tonight are writer and presenter Victoria Coren and comedian Jon Richardson. We can also expect to see James Blunt, Nick Robinson and Ross Noble later in the series.

Danny Robins Music Therapy is a new Radio 4 series in which our host combines music and jokes to help solve people's difficulties; 'Like Top of the Pops meets Trisha,' trilled the jingle. Last week, Danny came to the aid of those most loathed of citizens, traffic wardens. Though some gags were lame - having James Blunt as your punch line is like having your mother-in-law as a set-up - I enjoyed his interviews with real wardens. 'My music taste is pretty eclectic,' said one. 'Duran Duran, Gary Numan...'

So, Danny and his friends constructed a rap that included a sample of Numan's 'Cars'. Oh, and (groan) MC Hammer. The rap went on too long. Later in the show, listeners' problems were considered. 'My cat doesn't love me,' informed one, which provoked the great line: 'The very fact that she's got a cat suggests that she fears love anyway.' This is a hit-and-miss show for the moment. It needs more mad gags per minute, à la Milton Jones.