Kevin Bishop (II)

Kevin Bishop - Perfect comic timing

The Independent shares a doughnut peach and a chat with the star of The Kevin Bishop Show.

It's the final episode of this sitcom, which is set in an independent radio station and has been more good than bad. Chris O'Dowd (The IT Crowd) plays Lindsay Carol, a passionate but uncool DJ. After last week's unfortunate attempt to move into television, he and his sidekick Dom Cox (Kevin Bishop) deal with an appearance by the rock band The Charlatans.

Keith Lemon (alter-ego of Bo' Selecta comedian Leigh Francis) returned for a second series of Celebrity Juice; basically a tabloid-y, low-rent version of Shooting Stars, with a fraction of the laughs and zero inspiration. It's a panel show that relies on Lemon's abilities to keep the whole thing on-track, so inevitably fails because the Lemon character is so tedious. Strangely, Francis' retired creation, neck-braced celebrity stalker Avid Merion, would actually be a better fit for Juice's showbiz theme!

Any half-amusing moments are almost accidental, and the most enjoyable thing about the show is trying to guess how the celebs have been persuaded to appear: Fearne Cotton (shameless, no quality control), Sara Cox (as a favour to fellow Radio 1 presenter Cotton?), Kevin Bishop (new sitcom to plug that airs immediately after), Coolio (exploiting his renewed fame after Celebrity Big Brother), Verne Troyer (likewise), Rufus Hound (an ambition to appear on every digital channel's tripe?), guest-star Bianca Gascoigne (need I say more?) and Holly Willoughby (oh yes, her husband's a producer on the show.) Not so much juice, just dregs from a fruit squeezed dry by Vic n' Bob 10 years ago.

Al Murray dispenses with his stupendous Pub Landlord incarnation in favour of an ensemble sketch piece that, like his TV career to date, is a bit hit and miss. It's memorable mostly for being loud, colourful and a bit filthy... but then Murray is never a mand to tend towards subtlety. Jenny Eclair and Kevin Bishop gamely join him in the fun.

A trio of Guillemots banging away on the piano is not the only reason FM gave me hope for the future of the British sitcom, though they undoubtedly helped. This radio station romp, with Chris O'Dowd and Kevin Bishop as Smashey & Nicey for the noughties, oscillated so wildly between cool and naff it was as weird as watching Morrissey chitchat with Adrian Chiles on The One Show.

Though it's certainly the greatest radio-based sitcom since Frasier, FM can't decide whether it wants to be down with the kids of give 'em a kick up the skinny jeans. It tries too hard and not hard enough, throwing in rubbish jokes and sharp one-liners with scant regard for quality control, yet somehow - unlike the over-praised No Heroics, its closest cousin - it's actually funny.

That's largely down to the sheer likeability O'Dowd and Bishop bring to the pair of ludicrous out-of-touch muppets they are playing. The kind of DJs who got into it because they like the sound of their own voices not because of anything as daft as the music, they're past their shelf life and they know it. But that doesn't mean they're going to let any young'uns muscle in on the act.

It's no instant classic and there's nothing much in the way of a plot but FM has its finger sharply on the ageism dial like no other sitcom. Drag yourself away from the comedy genius of Robert Webb doing a Jennifer Beals impression and give it a go.

Chris O'Dowd, Kevin Bishop and Nina Sosanya star in what's touted as a cross between The Office and Peep Show. Set in indie station Skin FM, it's painfully funny - but not necessarily in a good way. O'Dowd's horribly tight skinny jeans made me laugh though.

Any new sitcom pairing C4 wonderkid Kevin Bishop and Chris O'Dowd from The IT Crowd has got to be worth checking out. It's set in a small radio station where the pair host an indie show (produced by Nina Sosanya from Teachers).

And what rock 'n' roll credentials this has got! It was co-written by Ian Curtis! Although obviously, and very disappointingly, not the late Joy Division singer - who wasn't exactly known for his screwball humour while he was alive.

Each week FM will feature real bands and tonight's talking guest is The Darkness's Justin Hawkins with a live performance from The Guillemots and a cameo from Marianne Faithfull.

But it'll need to crank up the gag volume in coming weeks if it's going to be a hit.

When Harry and Paul took DJs apart in the 1990s with Smashie and Nicey, the controller of Radio 1 sacked long-established names to lose the station's clichéd image. Now, we're not saying that this new comedy starring Chris O'Dowd and Kevin Bishop, which spoofs the current crop of DJs, will do the same, but it can't hurt to pray very hard.

For its new sitcom about indie radio DJs, ITV2 has poached some top C4 talent: Chris O'Dowd from The IT Crowd, Star Stories' Kevin Bishop and, er, Nathan Barley's Nina Sosanya. There's an enormous amount of self-conscious special guestery - first scene includes Justin Hawkins (from The Darkness) and suddenly it's 'The Guillemots are ready to record'. There are a some good moments - Chris O'Dowd comfortably slips into playing the same hapless role as The IT Crowd's Roy and Kevin Bishop's former boyband 2s Up is well observed. As a first episode they're allowed some room to set up the characters but it will need more jokes in future. Also, the swearing is all wrong.

Kevin Bishop was a hero in the last series of the spoof show, where he poked fun at Simon Cowell and Robbie Williams - and now he's back for more mocking. He kicks off this third series with Sir Elton John, the patron saint of celebrities, as his target. It's a bit hit and miss but it's great to see Bishop and Co back on the box.