Noel Fielding

There is no justice in the world, clearly. Otherwise, why would the dreadful sitcom How Not to Live Your Life be allowed to survive into its third series? More to the point why does its charmless star/writer/producer, Dan Clark, have almost total creative control, like he's Woody Allen or something?

He plays a feckless, gaffe-prone berk who constantly finds himself in sticky predicaments, usually in an effort to impress his attractive female housemate. This premise could probably provoke a few laughs in the hands of a more talented comedian, but Clark is terminally uninspired. The latest episode even featured a cameo from Noel Fielding, just to seal the comedy vacuum.

Lazy and obvious, the only fun it provides is in seeing how often you can predict each punchline.

BBC3's commissioning team throw up some pretty variable results. On the one hand, you get the sporadically deep and wonderful Him & Her. On the other, you get the rather more hit-and-miss likes of How Not To Live Your Life, now entering its third season. To recap: Don is a new lad (remember them?), who lives in a house with a lively cast of characters, while he must endure a series of misfortunes. Tonight, mild merriment ensues when he gets a job by mistake - who on some level can't empathise with that? The Mighty Boosh's Noel Fielding guests.

It shouldn't be funny. It's on BBC3, the intelligent critics hate it and it has a cameo from 'Happy Shopper Russell Brand', Noel Fielding. Still, tvBite can't help but laugh at it.

Star and writer Dan Clark has clearly tried to widen his writing for the third series: there's a dodgy subplot involving his attractive flatmate Laura Haddock, but if you ignore that (and it's easy to do) there's plenty of actually funny jokes, including a brilliant slo-mo montage set to Dire Straits and a good line about a roundhouse punch. It's not perfect, but there's talent - and a sense that everyone involved is really enjoying themselves.

How We Met: Dan Clark & Noel Fielding

'I used to say, "Dan, you're so funny at a party, you've got to try to get that into your comedy"'

A repeat of C4's live comedy extravaganza from London's 02 Arena earlier this year in which 23 of our funniest people (and Michael McIntyre) competed to win our laughs in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Charity. Take your pick from Alan Carr, Noel Fielding, Catherine Tate, Bill Bailey, Mitchell & Webb, Jack Dee, Jack Whitehall, Kevin Eldon, Lee Evans, Rob Brydon, Sean Lock, Jo Brand, Jason Manford, Fonejacker, Andy Parsons and Shappi Khorsandi. Phew.

The Buzzcocks studio can handle most things, but can it handle the prattle-storm of Jedward? It's a close call. Seated side by side as one guest on Noel Fielding's team, they nearly capsize the show. At one stage even the benign Fielding has to abandon them and swap places with Phill Jupitus because he can't cope with their daft interruptions (many clearly edited out). "It's like a simpleton Bros!" he wails. Other descriptions of the pop twins include "A production of Oliver! styled by Vivienne Westwood" (from fellow guest Katy Brand) and "the greatest musical collaboration since Lennon met Chapman". That cruel offering comes from guest host Jack Dee's autocue. He's just the man for the occasion: for much of the show, it's essentially Jack Dee versus Jedward - and cryingly funny.

Happy Shopper Russell Brand, Noel Fielding has had a pop at Simon Amstell for "ruining" Never Mind The Buzzcocks by being too rude to the guests, which suggests that he hadn't watched any of the series before Amstell was on. Or after. Or even tonight's episode in which Jack Dee describes Jedward as the "greatest musical meeting since Chapman met Lennon".

Mentally prepare yourself: Jedward are on tonight, appearing as one guest, and looking and being utterly ridiculous. But don't worry, because host Jack Dee and team captain Noel Fielding eat them alive. 'They're like a simpleton Bros' is just one of many, many insults hurled at them. Addictive viewing, sadly.

There was life before Simon Amstell, though Never Mind the Buzzcocks doesn't seem to know it. A full series after the catty, facetious quiz host left to write and star in Grandma's House, programme-makers are still fumbling around without a replacement.

Instead, they have stuck with a rota of guest-hosts who, if not the most adept at cracking jokes, at least offer punchlines for some. The concept worked last series: Amstell was so strong in his role that a revolving door created a pleasing sense of differentiation. By now, though, they should have settled on their candidate. No longer novel, the post-Amstell gimmick just seems like a compromise. Which, most of the time, it is.

Last night, particularly so. Mark Ronson - a previous contestant on the programme - took centre stage, offering a (fairly) amusing line about his hair (recently peroxided a ghostly white-blond, it boasts, observed one contestant, an uncanny resemblance to the style favoured by Tintin). Aside from the opener, he wasn't up for much. Not his fault; he's not a comedian.

The team captains did rather better: Phill Jupitus is still there, alongside newer arrival Noel Fielding. One of the big successes of the post-Amstell era has been Fielding's recruitment. Not just because he is hilarious - which he is - but also because he brings in some of the funniest guests. The format dictates that each team captain brings a guest to their benches: Fielding, like a naughty child at show-and-tell, produced fellow funnyman Paul Foot who, it transpired, would provide the biggest laughs of the whole thing.

Elsewhere, offerings were rather less lively: rapper Tinie Tempah, Mollie King of The Saturdays and safe-bet Alesha Dixon (she's been here before). No one was made fun of quite as they once were; when they are, the joke remains snugly PR-friendly. The competition rounds are much the same as they ever were; everyone knows what obstacle they'll face. Never Mind the Buzzcocks might be back, but - from the 'slebs' point of view - there's not that much to mind.