Grandma's House

Simon Amstell's odd, self-referential sitcom begins with him telling his family he's thinking about leaving Never Mind the Buzzcocks, before settling into close, uneasy observational humour. Rebecca Front as his mum and Jamal Hadjkura as his nephew are excellent; Amstell, though, takes a while to settle into his stride. But once the set-up is established, it grows in confidence, and next week's episode suggests it's an oddity worth sticking with.

There are some great lines in this new comedy, even if the main character is wrapped up in such a thick cocoon of self-referential irony that it is impossible to tell whether he is meant to be endearing, or an obnoxious twit, or both.

The award-winning Simon Amstell, who co-wrote the script as well as playing the lead, is pretty much himself: an acerbic TV presenter in search of something more meaningful, such as love, or Buddhism, or a new haircut. This causes shrieks of outrage among the female relations who gather in his grandparents' ornament-cluttered suburban semi with nothing more exciting to do than watch him being rude to pop stars on television (as the real Amstell used to do on Never Mind the Buzzcocks). Simon can be both knowingly funny, and amusingly clueless: when his grandfather says he has cancer, Simon gabbles "What should I do? Should I hug you?" and "That was my concerned voice. Did you like it?"

This ambiguity makes him difficult to warm to as a comic creation, and he may need to become more coherent to make the six-part series really sing. In the meantime, there are typically well-pitched performances from The Thick of It's Rebecca Front, who plays Simon's dotty mother, Tanya, and James Smith, who takes on the role of her odious suitor Clive - complete with smarmy anecdotes and an inexcusably high waistband.

When Simon Amstell stepped down as host of Never Mind The Buzzcocks, it was a black day for the noble art of taking the mickey out of pop stars - and guests. What, we all wondered, would he do next?

This is it - a sitcom in which Simon plays a character named Simon who is about to break the news to his family that he has decided to give up his TV job of taking the mickey out of pop stars.

Except nobody says mickey, of course: they're allowed to use much, much stronger language on BBC2 than I ever could in a family newspaper.

If this format sounds like it's in serious danger of disappearing up its own backside, don't forget that two of the greatest sitcoms ever made, Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, also featured Jewish comedians - Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David - playing versions of themselves. And it didn't exactly do them any harm.

Rebecca Front plays his mum, Linda Bassett his grandma and Geoffrey Hutchings is his grandad. And the fly in the ointment of this happy family is mum's new boyfriend Clive (James Smith) - an easy target for Amstell's barbed humour.

How closely this set-up mirror's Simon's own family is something we can only guess at as we admire his grandma's comfortable living room which is all G Plan furniture and ironic splashes of kitsch.

It's not as caustic as Buzzcocks but it's a grower.

Fizzing with scathing put downs and cruel one-liners, Simon Amstell's career as a comedian and television host has been an undoubted success. So it was a surprise when he gave up his role on Never Mind The Buzzcocks to do something else.

That something else, as it happens is Grandma's House, a self-referential sitcom written by and starring the man himself. The action evolves Amstell's character, a TV presenter who is quitting his job to try to do something more meaningful with his life, sound familiar?

Each episode is set at Grandma's house where the family gang up on the newly unemployed star and the humour is played out through a series of petty domestic exchanges. Anyone who's ever caught Amstell's stand-up show will know that his family offer rich pickings in the comedy department so there's a lot to hope for as the show kicks off it's six-part run tonight.

Whilst the show is very much Amstell's baby he's more than adequately supported by an enjoyable cast, led by BAFTA award-winning actress Rebecca Front who you'll remember from The Thick Of It and Nighty Night who plays his oppressive Jewish mother.

It's very postmodern and a very different proposition to the current crop of sitcoms on the box, so it may take you some time to get on the show's wavelength, but once you have, we suspect it will be well worth it.

The problem with Grandma's House is the obvious Simon Amstell issue. The set up is that Simon Amstell is playing Simon Amstell in a kind of Jewish version of The Royle Family. But obviously it's a sitcom, so he's playing a version of himself, you know, like how Larry David plays a less good George Costanza on Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Now, obviously this is confusing. But that's not the main Simon Amstell issue. The issue is that The Character Simon Amstell is not really a very good Simon Amstell. Simon Amstell on Never Mind The Buzzcocks seemed brilliantly witty and yet somehow vulnerable and caring even when shooting out terrible offensive jibes. The Character Simon Amstell here just seems a bit annoying and smug. There's a rhythm to the comedy which is thrown off by this and the show takes some time - two episodes - to get over it. Fortunately, because he has a brilliant cast around him (Rebecca Front is superb - but that barely seems worth saying nowadays), you can easily forget about any irritation caused by The Character Simon Amstell for those two eps and may well come to really enjoy the show.

Grandma's House review

Since retiring from his job "taking the piss out of pop stars" on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, it turns out Simon Amstell has been putting his talents to better use and created a fantastic new sitcom.

Amstell's in the House

Simon Amstell's mum might be cross to see that he hasn't eaten his greens. Instead, he's left them in a neat pile at the side of his plate and, as I walk in to meet him, he greets me saying: "Hello! Would you like some spinach? Or a mushroom?"

Meet my Grandma's House co-writer, Simon Amstell

Former Popworld and Buzzcocks presenter's new sitcom stars a fictionalised Simon Amstell. But it's nothing like Curb Your Enthusiasm, no way, says co-creator Dan Swimer.

A quick chat with Simon Amstell

Former Never Mind the Buzzcocks presenter Simon Amstell takes a swipe at himself - and his north London Jewish family.

Rebecca Front: 'Men don't trust women to be funny'

Rebecca Front, Bafta-winning star of The Thick of It, discusses industry sexism and her new BBC sitcom, Grandma's House.