Sharon Horgan

This latest pilot has enough comic pedigree to split the funny atom. David Cross (Arrested Development) and Monkey Dust's Shaun Pye write - the cast includes Sharon Horgan, Will Arnett, Russell Tovey and even a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot of Kristen Schaal. Cross is Todd, a desk monkey who's sent to London by Arnett to promote a hideous energy drink. It doesn't quite hold together, and is short a laugh or five, but the talent suggests it could still be worth a series.

This year's series of hit-and-miss comedy show pilots continues with The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, about a US executive (Arrested Development's David Cross) who finds himself out of his depth when he is mistakenly sent to run his company's UK arm. Russell Tovey and Sharon Horgan are among the supporting cast.

David Cross is great. Let's get that out of the way. He's great. This sitcom, where he plays a klutz accidentally sent to the UK to sell energy drinks was never going to be terrible. It was obviously going to be the best of C4's miserable Comedy Showcase run. But no matter who your big name Arrested Development stars are (Cross and Will Arnett - apparently Spike Jonze is in it too but we missed him in the cut we watched), you really shouldn't waste Sharon Horgan in a role as a waitress. Come on. Sharon Horgan is really very, very good. Also, this is supposed to be a chance for new comedies to make their mark. What are the chances of everyone involved in this making an a series for C4? Grow up. Just give them the money to make a one-off.

Another gem of a pilot from C4's Comedy Showcase testing ground. Todd (David Cross) is a brash American sent to London to sell an energy drink to an unsuspecting British public. Trouble is, our culturally narrow-minded protagonist soon finds himself a fish out of water, and hindered further by his unhelpful English assistant (Russell Tovey). It plays out well, and there is enjoyable support from an Anglo-American cast that also includes Will Arnett and Pulling's Sharon Horgan.

Fans of the cult US comedy Arrested Development will recognise David Cross who played Tobias Funke in that series. This pilot for C4's Comedy Showcase series is his first project for the UK, co-written with Shaun Pye who played Greg Lindley-Jones in Extras - the RADA graduate who was Ricky Gervais's bitter enemy.

So what's this all about? It starts in the US with Todd Margaret (Cross) accidentally promoted by his psychotic boss to head up a UK operation selling energy drinks. Overhearing Todd repeating the aggressive patter on a self-help CD convinces him Todd is the right man for the job - despite being a meek office drone who couldn't sell a sandwich to a starving man. His arrival in London unleashes more misadventures - as well as a meeting with comedy star Sharon Horgan who plays a cafe owner.

By the end of this sharply scripted episode you'll be hoping for a full series to find out what happens to him next - and you can't ask any more of a pilot than that.

The premise for Channel 4's latest sitcom pilot is simple enough. Todd Margaret (David Cross from Arrested Development) is a hapless American office drone sent to London to sell energy drinks. It's only because of a nicely worked misunderstanding that he was chosen in the first place, and Todd proves comically inept from the word go. His mission promptly unravels, starting with his fleecing by a cab driver and the controlled explosion of his luggage by a bomb squad. From there, we gather that things will get far worse, because a prologue involves Todd standing in court as a list of charges is read out by a judge, including "funding a terrorist organisation, possession of biological weapons, treason..." before a caption whisks us back "14 days earlier..." No doubt the writers could cheerfully mine enough material from those 14 days to fill a series, but what we get in tonight's pilot feels more like the opening of a quirky indie film than a sitcom. That doesn't mean it's not funny. It is. But you long for the close plotting and farcical twists of, say, The Worst Week of My Life. Also, it seems daft to cast a wonderful comic actress like Sharon Horgan (from Pulling) as a cafe waitress and then give her so little to work with. Even so, there are hints of something good here.

The second sitcom try-out in C4's Comedy Showcase season, and this one packs some more heavyweight comedy credentials. It boasts Ricky Gervais as script editor - a solid gold seal of approval. Disappointingly, there's no sign of former EastEnders Dean Gaffney or Shaun Williamson who manned the phone shop in Extras. This one is staffed by Ashley and Jerwayne (Andrew Brooke and Javone Prince).

Emma Fryer's in it too, still wearing that dazed, sleepwalker expression that she used in BBC2's Home Time.

Tom Bennett is new boy Chris, trying to make his first sale in the cut-throat world of 24-month contracts and impress his sex addict boss (played by Martin Trenaman).

Written, directed and produced by Phil Bowker (who also produced Sharon Horgan's Pulling) I hope this one gets the go-ahead as a series too.

The cast gel together as if they've worked together for years and even manage to turn BNP leader Nick Griffin into joke fodder.

Farewell to Pulling which has been, well, pulled. I can only assume that Pulling's cynical and acerbic tone did not chime with the brave, new, sunny sitcom world ushered in by the incorrigibly romantic Gavin & Stacey. Pulling went out with a funny, outrageous, inspired and frequently shocking one-hour special that made a total mockery of the decision to axe it.

"You don't have to live with a man who makes you unhappy," Donna advises Louise, "unless you have a child. Or a mortgage."

The show finished on something of an emotional cliffhanger, which allows for the possibility of a change of heart from BBC3 Comedy. Which - given that these are the same people who have commissioned a second series of the rancid Coming of Age - seems unlikely.

BBC3's amazing comedy Pulling tied up all its loose ends with an hour-long special. With a schedule littered with Two Pints of Lager and Freaky Eaters, the Sharon Horgan sitcom was one of the best things to come from BBC3 since its launch.

The great thing about Pulling is that its never afraid to push boundaries. It reminds me of the great early days of Shameless where you were never sure where it was going but the ride was always fun. Among the twists, this final episode featured a man jumping out of hot air balloon and ending up in a coma, a man tied to a chair with tampons stuffed in each ear, and Donna posing as an escort to get into a swanky London club.

I've loved Pulling since the start and had high hopes for this bittersweet finale. It lived up to them and I'll even admit screaming with laughter in places. I guess if It has to end there was no better way. I loved it but I can't help think what a shame it is that something so genuinely funny and relevant should be axed when we find it so difficult to produce decent comedies.

BBC3 execs are so desperate to stick to their demographic of young adults and I guess Pulling didn't fit perfectly into that brief but this was one of the best hours of television I've watched in a while. Even though the conclusion was left open, I'm grateful Sharon and Co were given the chance to give the series the end it deserved.

Video: Sharon Horgan talks to Tim Lovejoy

Sharon Horgan talks to Tim Lovejoy about the cancelling of Pulling. She explains that the BBC said to her that they weren't cancelling the show, but "continuing it in another form... by cancelling it."