Simon Amstell

Heads up: Simon Amstell

The tortured mophead seeks a comic cure.

Simon Amstell returned with a second series of his very funny sitcom, Grandma's House, in which he plays a version of himself as a neurotic, gay, Jewish ex-TV presenter. Has his acting improved or do I just mind less this time around? The writing was as pointed as ever and the cast still first class, in particular Rebecca Front and James Smith (both alumni of The Thick of It), respectively playing the pushy mother Tanya and her blundering twit of an ex-beau, Clive.

This nicely rambling opener started with Simon waking up next to a 16-year-old boy and ended with Grandpa's armchair going up in flames. It takes a rare comic eye to join those dots with so little obvious effort. Those who saw his self-flagellating stand-up on TV recently will be wondering why he hates himself so much.

To anyone fond of complaining there are no funny women on TV these days, I say only this: watch Rebecca Front taking hold of Simon Amstell's comedy vehicle Grandma's House and making it her own every Thursday night for the next five weeks on BBC2. Cracking stuff. No wonder Amstell's character wants to move out.

Grandma's House review: Finds its home

It seems the second series has found its home, with a sharper pace and more tangible hilarity than first time round. So we should all be very proud of Simon Amstell, who, in the assured words of his garrulous television mother, has become a "real-life Paula Abdul".

The Antichrist of comfy suburban sitcoms

The secret of the superb Grandma's House is that Simon Amstell can't act - while all around him are acting their socks off - making him a perfect stranger in his own life.

Grandma's House, BBC Two, review

My favourite scene involved Simon Amstell discovering the age of a one-night stand he'd brought home. "Sixteen. Well, it's not illegal. It's not a betrayal of trust. I'm not a teacher."

Simon Amstell's Grandma's House revisited by nearly 1m

Simon Amstell sitcom Grandma's House began its second series with a modest audience last night, early viewing figures reveal.

Grandma's House unlikely to return for a 3rd series

Simon Amstell's sitcom Grandma's House is unlikely to return for a third series, his co-writer Dan Swimer has said.

It's still really hard to tell where reality ends and TV begins in the second series of Simon Amstell's domestic sitcom.

And that's because this week Simon's trying to celebrate the fact that the BBC has commissioned a series in which he'll be playing himself.

"They're going to let you act on TV? Why?" gasps his mother, played by Rebecca Front of The Thick Of It fame.

Getting in the way of Simon's joyous mood is his sour-faced Auntie Liz and his very young one-night stand, who point blank refuses to go home.

It must be hard work making comedy look this laid-back.

'They're going to let you act on television? Why?' Yes, Simon Amstell's curious meta-sitcom returns tonight and it's just as flawed and intriguing as ever. This opener sees the aftermath of an MDMA-addled night out. Simon can't get rid of the 16-year-old he's picked up and, as usual, things are tense between Jackie, Liz and Clive with Simon alternating between tentative mediation and accidental provocation. There's still an air of semi-deliberate awkwardness about Grandma's House, with the excellent turns from comedy veterans such as Rebecca Front accentuating both the tension produced by the limitations of Amstell's lead performance and the self-consciousness of the show's premise. But we've got a feeling that's exactly the way he likes it.