Rufus Hound

There's an extra reason to tune in to this episode of Rufus Hound's comedy interview series, where celebs come on to gamely read from their awful adolescent journals: for author and ace newspaper columnist Caitlin Moran, her life at 15 and 16 was so extraordinary that Channel 4 are planning to base a sitcom on it, which Moran herself will write.

The show, working title The Big Object, is set to focus on an overweight teen's family life and hunt for a boyfriend. This blast from the source material includes Moran's contemporaneous reaction to being home-schooled in Wolverhampton, to living with seven younger siblings and indeed, amid all that, publishing The Chronicles of Narmo, her first and only novel.

Paddy McGuinness's nifty Riverdance footwork makes a lively opener to this new panel show, based on international news clips and with comedians Rhys Darby and Rufus Hound as team captains. But just as Paddy is game enough to show off his skills at Irish dancing, he's game enough to work with some pretty shoddy material.

The clips are on the geriatric side (there's a Star Wars-themed wedding from 2009) and some of the gags they throw up from guests Janice Dickinson, Louis Walsh, Jason Byrne and Rob Rouse are more mean than clever. Thank the casting department, then, for the presence of Rufus Hound, who kindly goes along with some of the soggier gags before interjecting with a proper one of his own. Saturday nights are a tough nut to crack, but Mad Mad World needs some sharper implements.

Ever thought the 'Devised by' credit at the end of QI seems a bit overblown for a digressive Q&A panel show? Well, ITV1's slack-jawed version of basically the same set-up, hosted by - and you'll like this - Paddy McGuinness, is here to prove that John Lloyd and co must be doing something to earn their money. McGuinness is joined by team captains Rufus Hound and Rhys 'Conchords' Darby, alongside Louis Walsh, a model and two miscellaneous comedians for an eternal 'What Happens Next?' roundelay of low-end YouTubia and silly foreign types. A child falls down, a woman accidentally farts on live TV, an African chap squirts water out of his nose all over Paddy, while the international flavour, laddish vibe, salty banter and shiny floor are suggestive of a pub quiz on an oil rig.'Ding-dang-do I?!' No.

Earlier this month Rufus Hound said he quit Celebrity Juice because he wanted to take a break from comedy. Last night he appeared as a team captain on Paddy McGuinness's new panel show Mad Mad World. Objective achieved already, Rufus.

Something of a foolproof premise that didn't take a great leap of imagination to commission: celebrities come on and read from their embarrassing teenage diaries. They're famous now so it all turned out OK, leaving them free to rip into their former selves in the company of host Rufus Hound.

First up is Robert Webb, the comedian and actor who has a sideline in sarcastic voiceovers. He uses that skill to make the most of his more than usually pretentious and doomy musings, written in a bungalow in Lincolnshire in 1989.

The present-day Webb neatly sums up the adolescent impulse to document every day of existence despite a lack of events, ascribing it to "that delightful combination of insecurity and conceit that made me think this was the best way to have a decent conversation".

Robert Webb, actor and comedian, opens the diary he kept when he was 17 for the benefit of host (and comedian) Rufus Hound and an enthralled audience. His entries include one about going to a party and kissing a girl he didn't really fancy. I always listen to this programme, now in its fourth series. But I often wonder whether a real conversation with the diaries' authors (who have included Meera Syal, Sheila Hancock, Michael Winner and Julian Clary) would produce something more satisfying than some wisecracks from Hound and lots of easy audience laughs.

Rufus Hound joins One Man, Two Guvnors UK tour

Comedian Rufus Hound will lead the cast of hit comedy One Man, Two Guvnors when it tours the UK later this year.

Rufus Hound interview

Best known as a stand-up comedian and panel show guest, Rufus Hound takes to the Soho stage in Utopia this week. Official London Theatre quizzed him and discovered a technophile fast-food lover with a couple of influential teachers.

Audio: Rufus Hound wants to move into acting

Rufus Hound has told BBC Radio 5 Live's Phil Williams about his moving into acting. The comedian said he had always wanted to be a serious actor and that he had reached a point when he asked himself "what am I doing this for".