Vic Reeves

After a seven-year hiatus - aside from last year's so-so Christmas special - the madcap quiz show returns for a sixth series. Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer are once again at the helm, while Little Britain's Matt Lucas returns as the ever-excitable George Dawes, the man with the scores. Joining team captains Jack Dee - who replaces Will Self from the last series in 2002 - and Ulrika Jonsson this week are The One Show's Christine Bleakley, 21-year-old pop star DJ Ironik and comedians Paddy McGuinness and Dan Skinner, the latter of whom appears in the guise of a Greek burger van owner called Angelos Epithemiou.

The show, which first aired in 1993, has always divided opinion: many have found it refreshingly quirky, while others believe it to be just annoyingly bizarre.

Certainly, the aficionados will be pleased to hear that its basic format is staying true to its roots. Sadly, though, the surreal, frenetic humour which characterised Shooting Stars in its heyday now feels a little stale - and perhaps slightly forced. Nevertheless, the show still has its moments. Reeves's shameless leering and harassment of a game Bleakley, in particular, will draw a smile. The highlight of tonight's series opener, however, is the appearance of comic newcomer Epithemiou, whose lugubrious style is such that it makes the cranky and deadpan Jack Dee seem comparatively sprightly.

Shooting Stars will continue to polarise opinion more than any other show on television. Larry Hagman appeared on it once as a guest and said afterwards, "I've done some loony shows in my time..." For many viewers, this is the ultimate crazed panel show exploding with madcap, surreal humour. Others just find it irritatingly daft. The new series is back by popular demand, hosted by Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer, with Jack Dee and Ulrika Jonsson as team captains and Matt Lucas - still dressed as a baby - keeping the scores. Given the frantic energy and decibel level, it benefits enormously from the mournful presence of Jack Dee and his trademark scowl. But the highlight of the evening is Dan Skinner in the guise of a rancid Greek burger bar owner called Angelos Epithemious, who steals the show with a fully formed character and the deadest of deadpan comic performances.

After a one-off Christmas special, someone had the bright idea of bringing back Shooting Stars for a new series. It was an odd decision, as this surreal, not-a-panel-game feels threadbare and tired. Sadly, time has not been kind. Team captains Jack Dee and Ulrika Jonsson do their best, but they don't have much to work with. The guests, particularly The One Show's Christine Bleakley, are game and do their best but it's a slog. Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer still have their moments, of course; Reeves's impressions of an unintelligible club singer are still funny; and it's good to see Matt Lucas again as the excitable big baby George Dawes. At least he looks like he's having fun. But generally the humour is too scatological and the madness that characterised Shooting Stars in its heyday and which made the show feel fresh and unlike anything else, now feels forced.

Like any right-thinking person, tvBite loved Shooting Stars in its mid-1990s pomp. Does the world need a return? We're prepared to err on the generous side and welcome back The Dove From Above, George Dawes et al, but you do have your worries. Must be a strange life, that of the 50-year-old comedian: how do you stay funny once you are rich and successful? Is it harder to be an edgy outsider when you're guzzling champagne with lapdancers? Whatever. We will be watching, for old time's sake.

After a successful Christmas Special, Reeves & Mortimer's 15-year-old comedy quiz Shooting Stars was recommissioned for a new series, which starts tonight. For such a well-loved show the BBC has rather tucked it away in a corner without much publicity (in fact I didn't realise it was back until I got George Dawes' "Lesbians" song stuck in my head and Googled the show) which doesn't bode well. Is it past its heyday? Probably, but it could still be worth a look.

On the Tube into work this morning, I saw a woman who must have been in her late eighties with bright, fuschia-pink hair, piled on the top of he head and held in place by matching fuschia-pink butterfly-shaped hair grips, a white dress with enormous red polka dots and what looked suspiciously like a ra-ra skirt, and shoes that wouldn't have looked out in place in The Wizard of Oz. By trying so hard, she just looked tired and out-of-date - a fitting metaphor for this completely unnecessary (and, criminally, unfunny) revival of something that was once the funniest show on television. Reeves & Mortimer return with Ulrika Jonsson and Jack Dee as team captains and Matt Lucas's George Dawes keeping scores.

After a one-off Christmas special, someone had the bright idea of bringing back Shooting Stars for a new series. It was an odd decision, as this surreal, not-a-panel-game feels threadbare and tired. Sadly, time has not been kind. Team captains Jack Dee and Ulrika Jonsson do their best, but they don't have much to work with. The guests, particularly The One Show's Christine Bleakley, are game and do their best but it's a slog. Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer still have their moments, of course; Reeves's impressions of an unintelligible club singer are still funny; and it's good to see Matt Lucas again as the excitable big baby George Dawes. At least he looks like he's having fun. But generally the humour is too scatological and the madness that characterised Shooting Stars in its heyday and which made the show feel fresh and unlike anything else, now feels forced.

The return of Shooting Stars

Reeves & Mortimer are back with 'Shooting Stars'. James Rampton wonders why.

Shooting Stars returns!

That's right! Shooting Stars is back for a whole new series!

'Comedy feels serious now'

Vic and Bob on the return of Shooting Stars.