Joe Wilkinson

If you haven't seen or heard of 8 Out of 10 Cats before then you probably don't have a television and have no need to be reading this. It's your straightforward celebrity panel quiz show where the questions are based around various surveys and statistics, as is explained at the top of the show by host Jimmy Carr.

This week they aired a second episode of the show where the host and guests are, for no explained reason, playing a game of Countdown. I can only assume that the initial C4 mash-up was a big hit and they thought, "Aaah why not, eh?" As usual, Jimmy rattled off a number of scripted gags, ranging from fair to poor, and Jon Richardson was his usual dour self, taking the role of team captain.

Notably missing from the line up was Sean Lock, which was a big loss to the show. Sean usually adds a nice eccentricity with his obvious lack of ego, never afraid to pick up on jarring absurdities of 'celebrity' guests on the regular weekly edition. Lee Mack was a fair replacement though, quick witted as usual, with a number of nice one-liners. He even managed to score a nine-letter word early on leaving the ever competitive Jon Richardson with plenty of room to play up his comically-angry persona.

Lee was joined by Rob Beckett and Jon by Rhod Gilbert, both of whom were funny and likeable. Tim Key was in Dictionary Corner and although enjoyable, he didn't have as much of a chance to shine as I would have liked. Joe Wilkinson appeared around the halfway point to "assist" Rachel with the letters, however he had no real reason to be on the show. Wilkinson is undoubtedly a funny man, but the number of appearances he makes on the show is somewhat diluting the hilarity of his "crazy antics".

An entertaining and fun show, then, providing you're not put off by the odd Savile joke or sexual objectification. Just saying.

One of TV's most unlikely - but no less enjoyable for that - cross-fertilisations returns as the 8 out of 10 Cats comedy quiz team takes over (for the third time) the veteran words and numbers game Countdown. Once again, Jimmy Carr replaces Nick Hewer in the presenter's chair, while Jon Richardson is joined by Rhod Gilbert to take on fellow comedians Lee Mack (replacing absent captain Sean Lock) and Rob Beckett. In Dictionary Corner with Countdown's Susie Dent is performance poet Tim Key, while Rachel Riley gets less welcome assistance from beardy Joe Wilkinson.

The announcer at the end blows a big raspberry at those "who didn't enjoy" Two Episodes of Mash. Well, that includes me. Supposedly a surreal sketch show, it's certainly weird, in that it fails to deliver a comedic punch on almost every level.

Tame tales of an app spewing lava, a stripper's trousers and animals entering the Ark are intercut with a flabby running gag about protagonists Diane Morgan and Joe Wilkinson settling into the studios of Radio 4.

To be fair, the libidinous snooker referee idea had promise, and I get what they're trying to do. If you like wacky played as mundane this could be for you.

This is gentle, absurdist, mini-sketch comedy, piloted in Radio 2 then given a series there back last autumn. These four new episodes come with a significant additional element, an animated trailer. To watch this go to bbc.co.uk/radio4. It's short, sweet and matches the humour of the show, the work of clever young artist Tom Rourke. But why is radio promoting itself visually? Because that's what reaches a generation who use smartphones to access everything, train times to pizza offers, with radio somewhere in the middle. The visualisation of radio is a growing field, increasingly used by commercial operators (to match advertisers to audience) as well as the BBC (always anxious to catch new listeners in any corner of their net). What matters still, however, is programme calibre. I think you'll find it here, in the company of Diane Morgan, Joe Wilkinson and David O'Doherty.

Following the success of last year's special, and as part of Funny Fortnight, Jimmy Carr is back hosting a rematch of Channel 4's MashUp, in which 8 Out of 10 Cats fuses with Countdown. Sean Lock and Jon Richardson face off as team captains, Irish comic David O'Doherty joins Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner and comedian Joe Wilkinson helps out boffin babe Rachel Riley on the numbers.

Russell Kane presents the sort of show we've all been crying out for: a showcase for various up-and-coming comedians.

Kane introduces sets from Joe Wilkinson (the scruffy oddball upstairs in Him & Her), Diane Morgan, Nick Helm and the Helmettes, and Totally Tom. We're promised music, short films and sketches as well as stand-up, with sketches tonight from Lady Garden, Jigsaw, WitTank, Humphrey Ker and Hari Kondabolu. That's a lot of names to squash into half an hour, so the pace should be quick.

It's Live at the Apollo for the stroppy teenage children of the nation's league of Michael McIntyre fans, basically. Corralled by Russell Kane, a series of young comedy pretenders jostle for attention with inevitably variable but sometimes amusing results. It's pretty hyperactive stuff - nothing's on for more than a couple of minutes, so if one sketch or routine doesn't float your boat, there'll be another one along in a minute. Highlights include duo Two Episodes of Mash (featuring the wonderfully lugubrious, occasionally slightly unnerving Joe Wilkinson) and Nick Helm who closes the show with a song. Hopefully this series will keep the cast rotating - it's a potentially decent showcase for the next comedy generation, with no time for anyone to properly die on their arse.

Fed up with the same old comedy faces on TV? Well here's wittily coiffed funny man Russell Kane to guide us through a showcase of rising talent.

It's a mix of stand-up, sketches and the occasional bit of music, with tonight's highlights including a chance to sample the oddball humour of Joe Wilkinson, best known so far as Russell Tovey's bonkers upstairs neighbour in Him & Her.

Stand-up comedy is having a moment. You can spot it by the volume of stand-up shows nestling in the grown-up slots of TV programming. BBC3's latest offering grapples for a new take on the usual concept, with the self-coined "third Russell of comedy", Russell Kane, heading up a convoluted sketch-show-cum-stand-up fest. He's joined by the likes of Joe Wilkinson (the creepy one off Him And Her), Nick Helm and Totally Tom in a melee of stand-up, quick-fire sketches and behind-the-scenes skits.

There's all sorts of weirdness lurking in the depths of the ad industry, and this new panel show exploits it to the full via quiz questions, challenges and banter. Cheeky cockney Micky Flanagan and self-deprecating Mark Watson are team captains and they're joined by Holly Walsh and Joe Wilkinson in an opening episode themed around confectionery.