Simon Amstell

Simon Amstell's acting ability is so lacking that it seems to have induced the rest of the usually reliable cast - including Rebecca Front, who's so good in The Thick Of It - to try to compensate by ramping up their performances too far. The result is as painful as quasi-fictional Simon's attempt to chat up an actor, who for the purposes of mild farce ended up in the front room with all the over-the-top relatives, matchmaking with glee.

Unlike other bad sitcoms, you can't accuse Grandma's House of being thrown together with too little thought: if anything, its problem is the opposite. On paper, the comic potential of Amstell's embarrassment coming up against his knowing self-awareness is there, but on the screen it comes across as simply annoying on all counts.

I'm enjoying Grandma's House (BBC2) more and more. Simon Amstell can be ever so slightly annoying as himself. But I like the other characters - mum's boyfriend Clive with his crap jokes and his positive-thinking, self-help book attitude; Grandad with his "cancer" (which may be a raisin); Auntie Liz who no one takes any notice of unless it's to have a go at her appearance, especially now she's got her frilly Prince blouse; and young Adam who can't decide whether he's a child or a grown up - he knows he's interested in "pussy" but he also dropped his phone in the loo when he was taking a photo of his poo.

I watched this one twice and enjoyed it just as much second time round; that's a good sign in a sitcom. I don't know how long it will feel fresh. Could it survive a second series? I'm not sure. But right now there's a subtlety and a sharpness about it. And yeah, it's funny.

For those patient enough to stick with the first episodes, this is where Simon Amstell's sitcom starts to get good, for two reasons. Firstly, either Amstell has relaxed or an increased familiarity with his awkward on-screen persona means it doesn't jar quite so much. And secondly, it's darker, and with that, far funnier. Simon's grandad has cancer, his mum is doing impressions of Will Young, Pam Ferris pops up, and there's an excruciating love interest in the form of Misfits' Simon, AKA Iwan Rheon. It's worth another shot if you gave up early on.

Nineteen-year-old Daniel Sloss from Kirkcaldy - a comedy circuit 'veteran' of three years - makes his annoyingly young debut as a sitcom star this week. The Adventures Of Daniel takes elements from Sloss's real life and fictionalises them, but less self-consciously than Simon Amstell's awkward Grandma's House. It feels like the pilot has been thrown together, which is not necessarily a bad thing but the supporting characters - mum (Imogen Stubbs), friends, girlfriend and her family - are all lightly sketched, more ideas than fully formed characters.

He's an engaging screen presence though and while there are a few too many teenage clichés, it's already better than many of BBC 3's attempts to be down with the youf.

Tonight's episode of this quietly subversive comedy about a dysfunctional Jewish family, in which the comedian Simon Amstell plays himself, is the best so far. Cantankerous Grandpa (Geoffrey Hutchings) invites round ebullient local drama teacher Deborah (Pam Ferris). There's a winning performance from Jamal Hadjkura as unlikely teenage rebel Adam. Accusations that he's impregnated a classmate provoke a hilariously unsavoury response.

Simon Amstell, type-cast as himself, is the star and co-writer, with Dan Swimer, of Grandma's House. It can best be described as The Royle Family relocated to North London, converted to Judaism and featuring a former host of Never Mind The Buzzcocks amongst its cast of characters. Basically the show comprises of thirty minutes of nagging, whining and kvetching, lapsing into the vernacular between three generations of very extended family.

Mum's odious suitor Clive, a cardboard box salesman obsessed with cooking-times for meat, is thrown in for good measure. The action, such as it is, is mostly located in the living or dining room, although at one point there was a short excursion upstairs to a bedroom.

It may not sound thrilling, but Grandma's House is worth watching for the terrific performances, the gag-packed dialogue that ricochets around the walls, and for a terrific, understated turn from Amstell, providing a calm, snide, cynical centre to the emotional storm.

t's hard not to curb your enthusiasm when you enter Grandma's House (sorry). Does the world really need another self-referential comedy that riffs off its central character's public persona? If the second episode of Simon Amstell and Dan Swimer's sitcom is anything to go by, yes. Not only are the characters well drawn, but the one-liners are cracking. Tanya (Rebecca Front) goes into a weird state of Jewish mother overdrive that even Woody Allen might balk at writing: "You can have my pubic hairs if you want them!" Tonight, Simon tries to scupper her marriage to Clive.

I can't decide if I like Grandma's House, Simon Amstell's venture into sitcom. Possibly because it's such an odd show.

Despite comparisons to The Royle Family, with which it shares a slightly askew view of the world and a rich vein of observational humour, the really memorable thing about Grandma's House is that we're not the only ones watching it.

With his quizzical expressions, constant commentary and general sense of being completely detached from the action, Simon Amstell seems to be watching it with us.

Just as I used to wonder why The Royle Family never turned on the television and saw themselves, I am now waiting to see Simon look up and ask his telly family: "Hey, what's that camera doing in the front room?"

Is Simon Amstell quite as clever as he thinks?

I think people are mighty strange, and relish anything that acknowledges this truth. But I've no idea whether I'll still be with this show come September. I worry that Amstell is not quite as clever as he thinks he is.

I expect genuine grandmas - the kind you might see on The One Show knitting sweaters for penguins - would really enjoy Simon Amstell's new sitcom. And how could they not when its central character is a nice Jewish boy who's good to his dear old mum Tanya (Rebecca Front)? In episode two, he's ­actually bought her a car.

A very small car, admittedly, and it's yellow. But still a very thoughtful present - it's not even her birthday. Simon bears gifts for several members of his family, while totally ignoring his auntie Liz's birthday - to much hilarity.

Amstell and his co-writer Dan Swimer have cleverly sketched a family forced by blood to be nice to one another, without sharing anything else in common.

Auntie Liz (Sam Spiro) is a mass of quietly seething sibling rivalry whose life is just one crushing disappointment after another. "I've lost two stone now," she says as she celebrates finally hitting her target weight. "Wonderful!" beams her mother encouragingly. "How much more to go?"