Mike Ward

From what I hear, Michael McIntyre isn't the most popular of stand-ups among other comics. If that is indeed the case, I can only assume they're desperately jealous. It can, after all, be quite an unpleasantly competitive area of showbusiness.

Anyway, here, as if to turn his rivals even greener with envy, the cheery, mass-DVD-shifting, Bafta-nominated Michael embarks on the second of his Saturday night roadshow series, visiting venues up and down the country and introducing, along with one established name per show, a bunch of comparatively new stand-ups who've yet to enjoy this level of prime-time exposure.

ITV has been raiding the archives this summer more often than Katie Price is raiding the Fake Bake.

You can't switch on the channel without a celebration of the good old days. Not that we mind - a genial trip down memory lane is often preferable to a cop show repeat or yet another telly cooking competition.

And there's no one we'd rather remember from times gone by than Bob Monkhouse, one of our best-loved showmen, who kept us entertained for half a century right up until his death in 2003. It means that there's no shortage of clips from his old shows like The Golden Shot and Opportunity Knocks, and from his stand-up routines. Here, his showbiz friends and family members look back at Bob's great contribution to the British showbiz scene.

This new comedy boasts a fine cast, including Green Wing's Mark Heap, Gavin & Stacey's Ruth Jones and The IT Crowd's Katherine Parkinson.

There's also some rather nice scenery. The story centres on a rambling club and its peculiar assortment of members, with each episode focusing on one of their excursions.

It's during these that we discover the friendships and rivalries within, most notably the clash between traditionalist Bob (Heap) and newcomer Christine (Jones), the latter's high-tech accessories and fancy gear getting right up the former's nose.

For fellow member Sophie (Parkinson), the outings are a tad less relaxing than she'd envisaged when she and husband Joe (Steve Wight) signed up - but it seems she's considering other ways to unwind...

There's a golden rule of comedy that says the less contrived the humour, the funnier it will turn out to be. Admittedly, this is a golden rule that I made up myself, shortly before I began typing the previous sentence, but that doesn't make it any less true.

Host John Bishop, Liverpool's latest big stand-up star, may be the one whose routines bind this new series together, but many of the laughs come from the clips inbetween, where members of the public simply relate their real-life experiences.

Each of the shows (also featuring sketches and celebrity guests) will tackle a different theme, such as marriage, work or holidays. "If you walk into a pub," says John, "these are the topics people talk about. It's the stuff that makes us who we are."

I've got a friend who's a vicar. Nice chap, pretty cool, not the sort whose job you'd necessarily guess if you spotted him in civvies.

So I thought perhaps I'd show him my preview DVD of this new sitcom, just to get his thoughts, seeing as the main character is a man of the cloth. Then I decided against it, because there's quite a bit of swearing and a fair few sexual references - and, in all honesty, not that many belly laughs.

Tom Hollander plays Reverend Adam Smallbone, preaching to a dwindling congregation at his London church - but surprised to discover, in this opening episode, that a lot of new faces are suddenly showing up. Surprised, that is, until he realises they have an ulterior motive. Olivia Colman and Alexander Armstrong also star.

Sky may not have the resources to churn out top home-grown drama on a routine basis, but when it does decide to throw its weight behind a production, as it's done for this latest Terry Pratchett Discworld adventure, then it certainly does it in style.

Shot in HD, and with a fabulous British cast that includes David Suchet, Richard Coyle, Charles Dance, Claire Foy, Andrew Sachs, Steve Pemberton and Tamsin Greig, this Bank Holiday two-parter (concluding at the same time tomorrow) is a typically outlandish Pratchett tale about a lifelong con man who's given one last chance to avert the death sentence. The deal? He must take on the seemingly cursed task of trying to rescue Discworld's Post Office, under threat from their equivalent of the internet.

These one-off Comedy Labs, running throughout this week, have inevitably had their high and low points. But there's a healthy pedigree behind the first of tonight's offerings, Penelope Princess of Pets, about a woman who can talk to animals. It stars Kristen Schaal from Flight Of The Conchords, and is produced by Avalon, makers of Harry Hill's TV Burp.

Who'd have thought it? Multiple marathon-running hero Eddie Izzard also turns out to be the funniest stand-up comedian on the planet.

Here's a show he performed 10 whole years ago at New York City's Town Hall, a classic set which would also help launch his Hollywood career. It's worth watching for the Darth Vader Death Star canteen routine alone.

This series, ending tonight, has been panned by some critics, mostly smartypants types who'd rather die than confess to the heinous crime of liking a middlebrow romantic-comedy. In truth, it's been a fine achievement, funny and sad in equal measure.

There's a distinctly likeable quality to comedian and presenter Justin Lee Collins which will serve him well on this new chat show of his.

Content-wise, it may not be breaking significant new ground - music and conversation are the mainstay - but Justin is hoping to create a late-night cabaret feel to the proceedings, befitting the opulence of its setting, London's iconic Rivoli Ballroom.

"I wanted the show to feel like a circus," he says, "so I'm kind of like the ringmaster!" We're promised games, surprises, audience participation (always makes me glad I'm watching at home, that) - and, if Justin has his way, maybe even an appearance from one of the ghosts rumoured to haunt the venue. I wouldn't hold your breath for that last one, personally.