The Justin Lee Collins Show

TV Review: The Justin Lee Collins Show

What kind of idiotic tagnut would give a green light to a programme like The Justin Lee Collins Show? To give me a show hosted entirely by a man who seems to have based his entire career on looking like Barkley from Sesame Street and mugging like Roland Rat is ludicrous enough. To then announce that the guests would be two people even more loathsome than the host... notably buttock-faced Stay Puft Marshmallow jock, Chris Moyles and squidgy faced talent void Eamonn Holmes is, quite frankly, taking a big steaming dump in the wound. It's beggars belief. It really is. Someone, somewhere, is making a living from such a wretched decision.

Justin gets friendly with Mel

Justin Lee Collins cosies up to Dancing On Ice beauty Melinda Messenger on his chat show tonight. With preview video.

A fairly average stab at a new chat show, with an impressive line up for the first episode. However, with Jonathan Ross, Graham Norton and Paul O'Grady already busy on the chat show circuit, do we really have any need for another one?

A hidden and unexpected gem in last year's schedules was The Convention Crasher, in which Justin Lee Collins did his best at being Louis Theroux, if Louis decided to hang out with Clowns and Magicians rather than Bloods and Crips. Surprisingly, this worked and gave JLC a little bit of cred, a little bit of "he's alright actually". So with Al Murray dipping his toe into the sharky waters of the sketch show (awful) ITV1 had room for a bit of light-hearted Friday chat. What does it tell us that Justin has been shovelled onto ITV2, on a Thursday? It means it's all back to default JLC: big beard, ironic retro t-shirt and shouting.

We are used to seeing him on TV with pal Alan Carr but here he goes solo. Chat shows are hard to get right - see Davina McCall and Lily Allen - but JLC has the enthusiasm of an excitable puppy and who can resist that? His show promises to be a mix of chat and music - and by music I mean he will sing.

The hairy chap from The Sunday Night Project gets a proper chat show all of his own. Although when I say "proper", don't go expecting a modern-day Parky. The celebs who show up will have to enter into spirit - being set a daft challenge or just letting themselves be the
butt of the gag. There'll also be music, games and oodles of audience involvement.

If you liked The Sunday Night Project, but thought Alan Carr and those pesky guest hosts had a nasty tendency of eclipsing human-eclipse Justin Lee Collins, you're in luck. JLC is off the leash and hosting his own show, featuring celebrity interviews, zany competitions and a potentially cringeworthy spot of karaoke.