Sharon Lougher

Watching the antics of Maisie and Pete (sexy couple in relationship set-to), Sharon and John (not-so-sexy couple who worry they're getting boring) and Blue (party animal who tends to wake up in abandoned supermarket trollies) was a bit like watching an episode of Hollyoaks but with added funnies.

More interesting were those on the periphery of this pilot: the tubby pair of community support officers bonded by naivety and fantasies; and Josh, played by Joe Pasquale's round-faced son, Joe Tracini, trying to earn the love of sperm donor dad Neil Morrissey, an intriguing proposition if ever I saw one.

This one will need time to grow - unlike Grandma's House, which has the makings of a sure-fire hit.

We've long looked forward to this Dawn French and Alfred Molina sitcom and it doesn't disappoint. Roger and Val Stevenson are an ordinary middle-aged husband and wife whose lives, feelings and prejudices are revealed in splendid little snapshots as they obsess over mundane, everyday minutiae. In this series opener they've lost the guarantee to their vacuum cleaner, which prompts Val to think deeply about existence and the afterlife, and engage in her own form of corporate protest.

At the end of last year Channel 4 road tested a few comedy pilots, and this one landed a full series. Rafe Spall plays a struggling sports writer whose life invariably leaves him dazed. So far, so good - expect there's a twist: two Sky Sports-style presenters offer a running commentary on his life, complete with analysis, stats and graphics. Interesting idea, which kind of works.

There are always moments of brilliance in the Mitchell And Webb weekly pot-shot at cultural mores. Last week it was David Mitchell shooting people who mispronounced basic words (hurrah!); this week it comes in The Gift Shop Sketch, which is a splendid parody of the constant trails and recaps you get in those threadbare US factual shows. And look out for Sketches We Couldn't Be Bothered To Write - a rather ingenious method of letting viewers' imaginations run riot.

The sitcom shuffles into a second series but if you're coming at it new, prepare yourself for a world that's a lot less subtle than that more famous creation from writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, Peep Show. The flaw this opener shows up is that the dialogue doesn't seem to sit right coming out of the mouths of the show's aged housemates. Still, we're in the safe hands of comic veterans Roger Lloyd Pack and Clive Swift of Keeping Up Appearances.

If Rev reflects the true spiritual devotion of east London, then the area is clearly going to hell. This episode starts with our hapless vicar (Tom Hollander) preaching to an 'upsettingly small turnout' of five people and there isn't even a Tube strike on. But that's not his only woe - he wants things to improve in the bedroom as well, which is the cue for lots of gentle innuendo of the 'that's a very nice organ' variety.

Start of a nice sitcom vehicle for Tom Hollander. The diminutive Pride & Prejudice/In The Loop star is perfectly cast as the slightly inept Reverend Adam Smallbone, who used to preside over the parish of a sleepy rural town but is now hopelessly out of his depth after being transferred to a busy church in east London and its loose-moralled congregation. Peep Show's Olivia Coleman co-stars as his long-suffering solicitor wife.

That meerkat ad has a lot to answer for: here we have an adult puppet show in which one of the main characters (a cat) has an almost identical accent. What those meerkats don't do is rob little old ladies, defraud celebrities or swear their furry little heads off, which is what the parade of animal puppets indulge in here. The sterling cast includes Katy Brand voicing a cynical pigeon and tonight's 'special guest', Toby Anstis. Utterly stupid but very funny.

A good choice for those who like their news to come with a sense of humour. Russell Howard is always warmly entertaining. He continues his musings here, riffing off stories big and small in front of a live audience.

There's never a calm moment in the Brockman house but then that would ruin Outnumbered, which is in fine form for this episode: in the first ten minutes, Pete confesses to an office party misdemeanour, Ben causes typical chaos with a garden hose and a scarily funny Karen makes absolute mincemeat of a door-to-door saleswoman.