Jimmy Carr

It's an arguable point but without John Sergeant in the chair, Dave's Argumental would just be another supposedly spontaneous comedy panel game designed to keep the wolf from the doors of struggling comedians. But Sergeant's elevation from sharp political pundit to national cuddly toy thanks to his neo-Expressionist revision on the choreographic rulebook on Strictly Come Dancing has given Dave a surprising edge over its rivals.

OK, it's still an exercise in stand-ups striving to show how off the cuff they can be - come on guys, we all know most of it's scripted - but Sergeant's avuncular umpiring makes such a refreshing change from the snide Jimmy Carrs of this world. It's more of a warm belly laugh than the vindictive sneer that has become this genre's stock-in-trade.

I don't imagine there are big rights fees for a programme such as Commercial Breakdown, given that people quite like the idea of getting an advertisement on the BBC. Which perhaps explains the sturdy persistence of this kind of show, alongside the fact that there'll always be a reasonably good audience for other people's funny ads.

Can there be an attention span in the land that can't cope with a programme in which no sequence lasts longer than 30 seconds? The title sequence for this latest version, presented by Jimmy Carr, includes a hint as to why top comedians might be persuaded to take a turn at the wheel, a pastiche of the famous Conservative election poster, showing a dole queue of Carrs and the slogan 'Jimmy Isn't Working'. Tell me something I don't know, I thought, assuming that this was one of those classic old-rope/big-cheque deals that so appeal to the jobbing entertainer.

Still, some of the films were pretty funny (check out Trunk Monkey on YouTube for the best of them) and, after a slightly bland start, it was reassuring to see that the sawtooth edge that makes Carr's comedy distinctive hasn't been smoothed out of existence entirely. What's funny is the combination of that end-of-the-pier face - all perky, cheeky-chappie reassurance - and the breathtakingly impolitic things that come out of his mouth. After running a pricelessly dated public-safety film about the dangers of abandoned fridges, Carr offered a reassuring postscript: On the bright side, if a child does get killed by a fridge, it will keep them fresh for three weeks.

It's hardly a new idea, we've seen this sort of clips show before, most notably presented by Clive James and Chris Tarrant in the 1980s. Here the format is resurrected, fronted by comedian Jimmy Carr. He does a reasonable job, too, although the audience seem overly (and suspiciously) buoyed up for the laughs on offer.

As mindlessly diverting telly goes, it doesn't come much more mindless than watching foreign adverts. Strung together by Jimmy Carr with a (mostly) witty script, it's the televisual equivalent of a Pot Noodle - cheap, not exactly nourishing, but once you get into it, horribly addictive.

Jimmy Carr returns with the sixth - yes, sixth - series of this consistently funny panel game, sitting smugly between the announcement of who's getting kicked out of the Big Brother house and the first evictee's chat with Davina.

Comedians Sean Lock and Jason Manford are still in the team captains' chairs and tonight they'll be joined by repeat guests (also known as show stalkers) Vic Reeves and David Walliams, who have appeared more than 10 times between them.

Back tonight on Channel 4 we've got the consistently brilliant 8 Out Of 10 Cats, the comedy panel game hosted by Jimmy Carr.

The inessential comedy panel show returns for an astonishing sixth series, with Jimmy Carr again marshalling six comedians as they recite jokes based on surveys and statistics. Returning as team captains are Sean Lock, generally the best spontaneous contributor by far, and Peter Kay-ish Manchester comic Jason Manford.

It's all a bit stilted and choppily edited, but it can attract decent guests (Vic Reeves and Griff Rhys Jones were on last year - David Walliams appears tonight) and will do well in the ratings.

DVD Review - Jimmy Carr: Comedian

The actual live show does not start particularly well. The dapper gent seems nervous for the recording night and his opening jokes reek of topical discrepancies (a Michael Jackson punchline stinks up the joint dreadfully). However it does not take Jimmy long to find his rhythm. Following a spectacularly nasty heckle towards a middle-aged woman in the audience ("She owes me a tenner!"), the moon-face killer lines up jokes like pump-action custard pies, launching them into the crowd with uncaring abandon for near-on 90 minutes.

Deadpan comic Jimmy Carr asks two teams to identify contemporary hot topics and link stats to facts, but this is all a playground for the guests and Carr alike. Perhaps the best feature of this show is the choice of captains: Sean Lock of TV Heaven, Telly Hell and Dave Spikey of Phoenix Nights. Dave makes for a good smart take on the discussion while Sean can be relied upon to offer more risqué humour. It is this trio that ensure the guests are never safe and have made it a ratings winner.

8 Out of 10 Cats is more or less a complete rip off of HIGNFY, only with less intelligent contestants. In yet another unsuitable vehicle for Jimmy Carr, only the sharp wit of Sean Lock saves the show from oblivion, Dave Spikey's style of humour not really suiting the format.