Sean Lock

Jimmy Carr returns with the sixth - yes, sixth - series of this consistently funny panel game, sitting smugly between the announcement of who's getting kicked out of the Big Brother house and the first evictee's chat with Davina.

Comedians Sean Lock and Jason Manford are still in the team captains' chairs and tonight they'll be joined by repeat guests (also known as show stalkers) Vic Reeves and David Walliams, who have appeared more than 10 times between them.

The Museum of Curiosity, Radio 4

Doesn't a little bit of Brian Blessed go an awfully long way? I thought of this whenever he opened his mouth on Radio 4's new, well, I suppose strictly speaking it's comedy, because it goes out at 6.30, but 'Radio 4's new comedy show' doesn't quite seem to fit. How does one describe The Museum of Curiosity? It's got guests; it has two hosts, Bill Bailey and John Lloyd, and occasionally, laughs.

Apart from Brian Blessed, of whom I have now had a sufficiency that will last me the rest of my days, the show more or less worked. Eccentricity is fine by me, as long as it's genuinely amusing. And hearing about Sean Lock's time as a goatherder - or Richard Fortey's experience of being stung by a giant Chinese hornet, or his story about the womanising museum curator who filed snippings of pubic hair from every woman he slept with - help pass the time pleasantly enough.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the worlds of Stars In Their Eyes and the cult 70s show The Indoor League combined? No, me neither, but the result is rather amusing.

They are two of Lee Mack's choices as he gatecrashes Sean Lock's studio for a chat about the best and worst TV programmes.

It's great when TV programmes are taken out of context, especially ones from the 70s. And The Indoor League is TV gold. Where else could you see cheese skittles being played? Sean is looking forward to the spin-off series, Cheese Skittlers' Wives.

Not quite heaven

I know comedy is very much a matter of personal taste, therefore very rarely brings in big ratings and as a consequence gets pushed to the periphery of the mainstream schedules, hence the late scheduling of TV Heaven, Telly Hell, though how it ever got a second series is a bit of a mystery.

The format clearly doesn't work, while Sean Lock not only continues to look uncomfortable and unfunny, but this week he managed to do the almost impossible by sharing a show with Jack Dee that I found it very difficult to laugh at.

Merely showing old clips of bad telly and then commenting on them seems last at the best times and the whole thing really does come across as an ill-conceived rip off of Room 101. The only thing remotely interesting about the whole exercise was the sight of Brain Blessed's deformed-looking foot in a clip from City Hospital.

A handy hint: if you are going to make a television show that exists to extract the urine from other productions, you should at the very least ensure that your show isn't worse than those you're mocking.

Sean's smashing show

We all love some television shows and hate others, but you may be surprised by one of comedian Lee Mack's favourites, which he reveals on the first episode of the new series of TV Heaven, Telly Hell - Stars In Their Eyes (Channel 4).

The show's presenter - and fellow comedian - Sean Lock, explains: "Lee chose a brilliant moment when the real Chris De Burgh met the pretend Chris De Burgh. It is one of the creepiest moments."

8 Out of 10 Cats: Claws Out DVD Review

Deadpan comic Jimmy Carr asks two teams to identify contemporary hot topics and link stats to facts, but this is all a playground for the guests and Carr alike. Perhaps the best feature of this show is the choice of captains: Sean Lock of TV Heaven, Telly Hell and Dave Spikey of Phoenix Nights. Dave makes for a good smart take on the discussion while Sean can be relied upon to offer more risqué humour. It is this trio that ensure the guests are never safe and have made it a ratings winner.

Johnny Vegas managed to more entertaining in a few short minutes on Grandstand than he managed in a whole half hour in Channel 4's woeful TV Heaven, Telly Hell. A great idea, painfully poorly executed. I like Sean Lock but this format really doesn't play to his strengths.

8 Out of 10 Cats is more or less a complete rip off of HIGNFY, only with less intelligent contestants. In yet another unsuitable vehicle for Jimmy Carr, only the sharp wit of Sean Lock saves the show from oblivion, Dave Spikey's style of humour not really suiting the format.