Sarah Millican

The third of Ruth Jones's seasonal chatshows offers up the unusual opportunity of seeing Jonathan Ross in the role of interviewee. Anyone hoping for a grilling on Sachsgate and extravagant pay packets is likely to be disappointed by Jones's puffball questions but Ross is an engaging guest and the patter between him, Green Wing's Stephen Mangan and stand-up Sarah Millican makes for pleasant, undemanding viewing.

Following on from the success of her Christmas Cracker and Easter Treat, the ebullient actress Ruth Jones (Gavin & Stacey) returns for another one-off chat show. It promises to be a jovial affair, with Jonathan Ross, Geordie comic Sarah Millican and the actor Stephen Mangan all joining her on the sofa, as well as music from an irrepressible Irish rockabilly star called Imelda May.

Edinburgh fringe comedy round-up

From Andrew Maxwell and Sarah Millican to Russell Kane and Meryl O'Rourke, Stephanie Merritt reviews the best of this year's Edinburgh comedy.

Sarah Millican interview

Comedy has long been touted as the new rock and roll but Sarah Millican, one of the big names at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, is still trying to work out what it means.

Saturday night... The Marriage Ref. Last of the sizzling series. A landmark in television history. Will it come back? No.

But another rare chance to catch ubiquitous guest Sarah Millican and her dreaded Geordie wit. Which used to be quite funny... until she started appearing on every show in town.

"I can't believe you got divorced," gasped witless host Dermot O'Leary. I can. And I'm guessing Sarah's husband saw far too much of her. Like the rest of us.

Similarly over-exposed panel game favourite Micky Flanagan sighed: "I don't know why I'm here." Because Jimmy Carr and Jack Dee weren't around... and it was your turn on the rota. Same old faces... same old jokes.

As always, the ­contestants all loved each other deeply. But had some meaningless minor moan.

A dead show walking right from the start, this pointless pap was so ­stunningly dull it was shunted to a late night timeslot. Due to total lack of interest.

Sarah Millican & Russell Kane on favourite Fringe place

Edinburgh Festival Fringe regulars give us their insiders' insight.

Hosted by Dermot O'Leary, The Marriage Ref invites married couples to air their domestic differences before a live studio audience, while a celebrity panel offers advice and adjudication.

These aren't the sort of grievances that threaten relationships, nor even perverse sexual demands, but quaint foibles about which the panel can make humorous comments. Episode one featured a husband who compulsively pickles vegetables and a wife who communicates by Post-it notes.

The Marriage Ref is frothy, undemanding and, paradoxically, so inoffensive it causes offence. I took against it almost immediately, despite the participation of two fine comedians, Jimmy Carr and Sarah Millican. Unfortunately, the triumvirate was completed by former Spice Girl and UN Goodwill Ambassador Geri Halliwell, a woman who tries to compensate for absence of wit through excessive volume. "You're funny, you're funny," she screamed at Carr. "Yes," Carr snapped back, his own goodwill evaporating by the second, "It's my job."

This new chat show hosted by Claudia Winkleman has already been called by most critics a "reverse Room 101", in that Winkleman attempts to decide which are the best things in a certain category, with the help of guests.

In this case, Sarah Millican and Chris Evans helped Winkleman choose the king of holidays, jobs and cheese - a somewhat broad choice of subjects, but Winkleman claims she was to cover everything, and put it down in a book she intends to give to her children.

This made for an interesting watch. Seeing Winkleman and Millican talk was like watching a funny Loose Women, or to put it another way, a good Loose Women that I might be tempted to actually watch. I especially enjoyed Millican's line about her attempt to discuss the future with her boyfriend at Euro Disney.

There were some turn offs, though, for me. The audience were a bit annoying, seemingly cheering at any point, and I would disagree with some of Winkleman's choices (surely the king of jobs would by king?) - but it was an interesting first watch and I'll probably take a look at next week's offering, too.

I don't understand why American critics took so vehemently against The Marriage Ref, created by Jerry Seinfeld. On the strength of this ITV remake, it looks like harmless fluff.

Or maybe the harmlessness was the reason for the critics' harshness. Maybe the Americans expected Seinfeld to come up with something edgier and more substantial than a comedy panel game in which three celebrities pass jokey judgements on minor marital spats.

The US version, despite savage reviews, has limped to a second series. The only reason for its survival seems to be Seinfeld's ability to fill the panel with heavyweight celebrity pals like Madonna, Alec Baldwin and Ricky Gervais.

Their counterparts for this version were considerably less starry: comedians Sarah Millican and Jimmy Carr (clearly we don't see enough of him on television), and, as host Dermot O'Leary described her, "British pop and yoga royalty" Geri Halliwell.

I can't see this version making it beyond a single series. The domestic disputes are barely disputes at all and there's nothing at stake, not even a cash prize.

Saturday's participants were a middle-aged Tom Jones impersonator who's fed up with his wife leaving him "to do" lists; a young woman who wants her 31-year-old clown of a husband to grow up and stop hanging out with teenage skateboarders; and a lovely, octogenarian couple, married for 53 years, who are having a genteel disagreement over the husband's habit of making endless jars of pickles (cue some patronising "oohing" and "aahing" from the studio audience).

Hardly the stuff of Relate counselling. In a TV landscape coarsened beyond belief by the likes of Jeremy Kyle, The Marriage Ref doesn't stand a chance.

You wonder how some shows get commissioned. It's not that Channel 4′s new Room 101-a-like King Of... is terrible - it really isn't, and its neat scheduling alongside 8 Out Of 10 Cats (now with added Jon Richardson) and Chatty Man means I'll probably end up watching it again - but it feels a bit... well, cable. Not primetime terrestrial, barely E4 even. One of those high channel numbers that you only get to on the EPG when there's *really* nothing on.

The premise, if you missed it, is pure pub conversation fodder: what is the best of everything? In this episode, we covered the best holidays, the best job and the best cheese. This is too many bests, people. The only reason these conversations are fun in the pub is because they go on so ruddy long; every angle analysed, debated and dismissed before a consensus is achieved. Here they just bashed through them, and came to ridiculously arbitrary decisions: Stinking Bishop was named king of cheeses because guest Chris Evans likes it, chocolatier got best job (yawn) because someone in the audience was one and the spa break won best holiday (what?!) because host Claudia Winkleman just took an executive decision.

It was fine. A penguin trainer came on with a penguin that chased Claudia around the studio. A mouse was given the choice of several different cheeses. Sarah Millican was funny. But that, I think we can all agree, probably isn't enough.