My Family

I guess I shouldn't beat around the bush anymore so here goes... I... I... quite enjoyed Friday's My Family.

Like many, I watched the first series but lost interest quickly and have only dipped in and out ever since. So it was a little odd that I decided to give this first episode of the seventh series a go. Whether you like it or not, it is an achievement nowadays for anything, drama or comedy, to make it to its seventh series. I turned it on with low expectations and was surprised how it seemed to have grown up a bit. I can't abide the dopiness of Abby and Roger but they didn't get much screen time in this opener and the humour seemed surprisingly near the mark for a 'safe' series.

One of the lines so says my sister whose legs have two different postcodes would perhaps be more at home in Pulling but I was surprised how mature this first one was. This episode actually made me laugh in places and that's all I really want from a comedy. I doubt it'll continue to, but I'll give the second one a go just to see.

It was a depressing evening all round. The start of the eighth series of My Family, that's very depressing. There's another one coming, too, apparently. It's your fault, for watching it. If no one did, they wouldn't continue to make it. Stop it - it's lame, predictable, out-of-date, middle-of-the-road, middle-England, middle-piddle ... it's the central reservation of television. Watch Pulling instead. That's the fast lane, and the hard shoulder, all in one.

And you know what was really depressing about it? I caught myself chuckling on occasions. What the hell is going on? Maybe I'm old now.

Kids have a habit of growing up fast, but I'm sure it was only the other day that Michael Harper (Gabriel Thomson) was a little bespectacled geek with an unnerving interest in military matters and a tendency to stay in his room a lot. Suddenly he's studying at university, is sporting an eyebrow stud and has got his girlfriend pregnant. But then he's not the only one to have grown up. My Family has, too, going from relatively safe childish humour to... well something a bit saucier, with references to bondage and lines such as "Ha! Says my wonderful sister whose legs have two different postcodes!"

Despite these slight changes, the comedic juggernaut that is My Family is still trundling along in the middle of the road attracting viewing figures other comedies can only dream about. And another series is already being filmed.