Russell Howard

Say hello to a new batch of TV's most reliably funny and likeable panel show. Tonight's posers include whether stand-up Russell Howard used to wear underpants on his head as an anti-acne gambit and whether EastEnders star Larry Lamb once ran a market stall that sold hats for dogs. In case you're thinking that both things are clearly absurd, bear in mind that everything on the show is clearly absurd and could never have happened - yet some of it did. This series, Angus Deayton has given way to Rob Brydon as host, but the show's beating heart remains David Mitchell. He rules it as his domain; the others just make up the numbers. Tonight, Mitchell voices firm views on castles, crying and working at McDonald's.

Poor Angus Deayton has been dropped again. Rob Brydon steps into his shoes and very good he is too (much better than AD, who treated it as if he had somehow turned back time and was on the set of HIGNFY). Also good are the team captains: David Mitchell's natural habitat is the panel show and Lee Mack is naturally funny. Tonight's guests are Jo Brand and Russell Howard, providing back-up laughs, and Carol 'whaat now?' Vorderman and Larry 'do something about your son' Lamb are the straight men. It's never hilarious but it's always funny and less annoying than Mock The Week, so everyone should be glad to see it back.

Other than the editor and owners of The Daily Telegraph, the only folk actively praying for the expenses ballyhoo to continue are Dara O'Briain, Russell Howard, Frankie Boyle, Hugh Dennis and that bloke who looks like Matt Lucas' character out of Krod Mandoon (Andy Parsons). Let's hope they make the most of it as guests Frank Skinner and Gina Yashere join the teams.

Anyone whose day involves extreme surfing in the freezing water and 60ft waves off the rocky coastline of County Clare could probably do with a little warming up. Cue Russell Howard, whose boyish enthusiasm and sizzlingly funny sets are usually hard to resist... but can he win over these adrenalin junkies?

It's a sad day for stand-up comedy fans. Now that Jonathan Ross has almost served his sentence, this will be the last outing for Live At The Apollo. And there's no word yet on if or when the series will return.

First up tonight is Russell Howard, who toddles on stage looking like a lost schoolboy but within seconds turns into a kid pumped up on too much Sunny Delight. With the customary energy we know from Mock The Week, he bounces from one subject to the next, starting with bizarre heckles then evil sandwiches and bus stops with hats to scary 13-yearolds and why you should never underestimate little old ladies.

He also has a genius way of livening up a trip to Ikea - if you've had a few drinks and live near a branch that's open until midnight, you might want to head off straight away (but only if it's walking distance or you know a sober driver, OK?).

The second act is Jo Brand, who tackles topics including Russian brides, the dangers of going to the pub, Barbie dolls and why Bruce Forsyth should wear baggy trousers that show off his bum crack.

I know, it's not an image I want to think about for too long either..

In the final helping of this superb stand-up show, Jo Brand and Russell Howard make us laugh. Well, this has been a tip-top way to end the week, hasn't it? We can't quite remember what it replaced in the schedules, but we're pretty sure it can't have been as consistently funny as this. To round off this run of comics, who've sometimes told some very naughty stories, is the First Lady of Stand-up, Jo Brand. Also joining her on the bill is fresh-faced Russell Howard, also known as the blond one on Mock The Week.

Rather less amusing was Russell Howard's unbroadcast episode of ITV's Tough Gig, a quickly shelved series in which the likes of Frank Skinner, Dara O'Briain and Patrick Kielty hung out with disparate groups of people for a week before performing comedy to them. 'Hopefully, it'll never appear,' Howard mutters. 'I spent a week with these extreme surfers in Ireland and though it was a lot of fun, I was quite naive about how they would edit it. They left out all the fun to give the gig a sense of jeopardy. Luckily, loads of great stories came out of it that ITV couldn't show. One of these surfers' initiation ceremonies is to go to a post office and try to buy pornography, which led to me being bollocked by a very angry old lady.

Ironically, before the BBC started advertising the fact that 'Thursdays are Funny', they really were, with comedians Frankie Boyle and Russell Howard in blistering form on Mock the Week.

A more inane panel game you are unlikely to find - unless you catch the dire News Knight on ITV1, and I'd advise catching hepatitis instead - Mock the Week is a show you don't even laugh at contemptuously.

Rather, as Dara O'Briain, Hugh Dennis, Frankie Boyle, Andy Parsons and Russell Howard wade through it, as if through thigh-high excrement, it's a show to sit slack-jawed in front of, awestruck at its dearth of humour, charm and originality. Still, at least Ben Elton isn't in it.