The Inbetweeners

E4's first sitcom about a group of cherry-popping quest, is aimed at teens. But the writers are in their 30s and the cast are blatantly in their 20s. Nothing rings true, and there are few proper jokes: flat gross-out humour and age-old geek/bully stuff take their place.

Television loves a geek. There's Sid in Skins, while Reaper and Chuck have both given power to the nerd. Now there's Will in The Inbetweeners.

The programme's funny too, in a knowing kind of way. Will (Simon Bird) is the new boy at his local comprehensive and he's not happy. He's there because his parents have divorced and he's had to leave private school. He wears glasses and a blazer and carries a briefcase - he's definitely not too cool for school. Worse, as a newbie, he has to wear a badge saying, "I am Will, stop me and say hello." He does find some mates - the trouble is, all of them are a bit sad and even they don't like him much.

The first episode of new E4 comedy The Inbetweeners is rubbish. The second one is brilliant. This review is going to be confusing.

It's actually very funny. You just have to wait until episode two to find out. Once Will befriends a rag-tag bunch of mates - from cheeky Jay, who's 97 per cent haircut, to horny Simon, who thinks alcoholism is a turn-on - it's chuckles-a-go-go.

Aspiration has become the norm for teen TV. The O.C. made you want to smack yourself in the face because you didn't spend your A-levels having angst-ridden chats with girls so beautiful you'd eBay a relative for them to just breathe on you. Even the apparently 'real' Skins makes me feel cheated that my teens weren't a conveyer-belt of 17-year-old waifs begging to service me.

Sound like your 16th year? No. The Inbetweeners nails the disappointment, frustration and friendship perfectly. They don't have the talky emotion­-spew of Skins - they take the piss out of each other. It's not pretty - but it's real.