Not Going Out

Lee Mack: Bobby Ball is my comedy father

Lee says: "The first thing I can remember as a sort of performance was doing Bobby Ball impressions in the playground at school."

Held over from the end of the last series, back at the start of the year, this festively themed episode of Lee Mack's likeably daft sitcom (we demand more, by the way) features Bobby Ball as Lee's estranged dad. Although this man walked out on his family when his son was only four, Lucy (Sally Bretton) thinks her flatmate should forgive and forget.

No laughing matter

High costs, tight budgets and a demand for fast results are making it more difficult to get - and keep - good comedies on television. Avalon's Not Going Out recently got the chop midway through series three despite strong audience appreciation and climbing ratings.

Fans rally to save BBC comedy Not Going Out

A dedicated group of fans has pulled together a 1,500 strong petition in a bid to save axed BBC One comedy Not Going Out.

Not Going Out fans call for show's return

Insiders at the BBC also expressed their surprise at the comedy commissioning team's decision not to bring the series back. One BBC producer, who did not want to be named, told The Stage: "I am just devastated by that decision. The last series was so assured. I don't understand the rationale. It's just a really good show."

No longer going out

Apparently this was in the News Of The World yesterday, so it's incumbent upon me to confirm it: BBC1 have indeed cancelled the award-winning sitcom Not Going Out.

BBC axes Not Going Out

The BBC has axed studio sitcom Not Going Out after three series. The Avalon-produced series, co-created by its star Lee Mack and writer/broadcaster Andrew Collins, was part of BBC1's Friday night line-up.

You have to admire the way Lee Mack manages to effortlessly tuck totally random gags into an otherwise normal sitcom. His The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe joke tonight is perfect - especially because you have no idea how it managed to find its way into a conversation about weddings.

That's right, Lee's flatmate Lucy is getting married to a hunky mechanic named Pavlov who has almost as many sob stories as Lee has one-liners.

It's the last in what's been another great series.

There's one big negative: it's got a laughter track. Spaced didn't neeed canned chuckles; The Boosh don't use them; Nathan Barley didn't come equipped with fake guffaws. It's an out-dated device that undermines a programme's writing and is best left to the stuff featuring Jasper Carrott. Because, granted, there are some canny one-liners amid the corny drivel, but when something's billed as a comedy, surely it shouldn't be too surprising that some moments are funny. Lee Mack is an ace stand-up but his moves into television have been mainstream meh. The Sketch Show, anyone? Mack should stop Not Going Out and get back on stage where he excels.

Editor Note: This critic seems to have fallen into the trap of not realising that NGO is filmed in front of a live audience

Normally, one-liners are best left in the realms of Christmas crackers. But Lee Mack and Tim Vine are two of the best in the business at dreaming them up and machine-gunning them out, which makes this sitcom such a fun maelstrom of ridiculousness, and one that trumpets its own cheesiness. And no, Mack can't really act - but as the loose-moralled lead who'll do anything to get the girl, he strikes the perfect balance of loathsomeness and lovability.