Lead Balloon

Another dollop of sourpuss comedy, and this week, a revelation: Rick Spleen isn't Rick Spleen at all, it turns out. His real name is Rick Shaw, a pun that caused no end of amusement in his school days and which comedy partner Marty continues to enjoy, at Rick's expense, during their fractious writing sessions. It's a detail that may prove crucial, too, if Rick's hopes of appearing on a family tree series called Where Do You Come From? materialise. The pre-title sequence where Rick meets the show's producer Calvin is one of several lovely scenes, the best of which involves a priceless misunderstanding by Magda the home help, who's moved in with Rick's family. Then there's Michael, Rick's super-tense restaurateur friend. Michael has not taken well the news that his father is gay. Look out for a brilliant visual gag in the scene where Rick and Marty visit Michael's place to check he's OK: Curb Your Enthusiasm, this sitcom's spiritual parent, would be proud.

Jack Dee may be on of the writers, but it's clear he knows that successful sitcoms need a good ensemble cast. Which perhaps explains why Magda, his sullen Eastern European help, and Michael, the ultra-neurotic cafe owner, get all the best lines.

Although it's easy to understand why Jack Dee's surly sitcom has survived to a third series, you need an electron microscope to find the humour in it these days.

And now that Rick's daughter Sam (played by Antonia Campbell-Hughes) and boyfriend Ben (Rasmus Hardiker) have inexplicably stopped their weekly demands for money, the best bit of the show each week (apart from Magda, obviously) is turning out to be the pre-title sequence when we see Rick at work.