Return of the Mack

Lee Mack is one of the funniest British comics around at the moment. His timing, his wit, exuberance and Northerness make him an entertaining and personable guy. While 'thetvreviewguy' so wanted his flagship Saturday night vehicle to succeed, 'Lee Mack's All Star Cast' (BBC1) doesn't quite gel, despite Mack's winning personality. The show is an obvious mix of concepts from Graham Norton audience participation and web-cam links, to regular chat show and comedy stand-up. Mack seemed atypically hesitant on his first outing and this is probably down to the constant jumping in format that he has to somehow make seem as original and a draw for the fickle, flicking viewer. Fern Britton and Frank Skinner did their best as guests to keep the show moving along and their obvious respect for the host was evident but as a spectacle, it was just too messy and frenetic. Now 'thetvreviewguy' knows that if you're stuck watching TV on a Saturday night, you're either broke, married/partnered up or single but that's no excuse for watching any old iron. 'All Star Cast' deserves better production; Mack is fast on the way to becoming the thinking man's Michael McIntyre, i.e. funny as well as popular and the BBC should really be making better use of his talents. Now, if only they'd line up Tim Vine as part of a double header variety show; the BBC could have another Baddiel and Skinner hit on their hands. Instead, you can watch Áll Star Cast' safe in the knowledge that it's the best of a not-great bunch on a Saturday night.

New York's Finest?

There's no shortage of TV po-po shows these days and quality-control needs to be rigorously applied. 'Blue Bloods' (RTE2), a much-trailed NYPD cop drama, revolves around the Irish-American Reagan family, three generations of Poh-Lease, with Tom Selleck as the current Police Commissioner. Donnie Wahlberg plays a distinctly Republican Bull he is counter pointed by his liberal, college-man brother, also a cop. Throw in an Assistant DA sister and 'Cut-me-and-I-bleed-Blarney' ex-cop grandfather and you have the makings of an interesting family dynamic. Sadly, the family scenes are the only original and compelling parts of the programme. Otherwise, 'thetvreviewguy' finds it to be a mish-mash of 'The Wire' without the swearing and the realism and 'Law and Order', without the Order and with 'whodunit' scripts that are clichéd and pat. It's a pity because the family plot-line to 'Blue Bloods' looks like being a real grower (there's been a recent commissioning of a second series). Selleck is watchable and can really act; while 'Magnum' was fun, it could never be accused of gravitas and moral integrity, both of which the actor brings to his role in 'Blue Bloods'. Still, thankfully, it's not CSI - there's no techno or forensics BS. Instead, the writers try to meld to stories into one; the family tale and the shooty, crimey stuff; the joins are by no means seamless. Wahlberg may be role- limited but he does chippy Micks down to a t. 'Blue Bloods' is better than a lot of the garbage out there but it ain't no David Simon show; for 'thetvreviewguy', it ain't no thing.

Dinner, Dinner, Dinner, Dinner...

It had to happen. 'Come Dine with Me Ireland' (TV3) has arrived and it doesn't disappoint, whatever your expectations are. If you're looking for cringe-worthy, face-palm tv, then you've got it by the bucketful - it copies earlier versions, except, this being Ireland, the guests seem to drink even more ('thetvreviewguy' is Irish, he's allowed say things like that); and, if the indications of the first few programmes are correct, they don't mind making complete numpties of themselves either. 'Reality' TV has always been about the selection process; who the producers pick is essential to the ingredients of the show. Naturally, if for you have a dinner party with clashing personalities who all happen to be annoyingly 'me-pointing', you'll be hitting telly jackpot. Now ‘thetvreviewguy’ knows all about the fleeting moment of fame that comes with appearing on the box; he twice captained his college in the not-much lamented 'Challenging Times' (for his US friends that was an Irish version of 'College Quiz Bowl'). So he can understand why mass media exposure has appeal (okay, in the case of 'Challenging Times', a bit less of the 'mass'). But he really doesn't want or need to make a complete tool of himself on national television (having perhaps done so in the past ). 'Come Dine with Me Ireland' hits the high tide mark in reality telly but reaches down to the lows when it comes to LCD entertainment. Not that funny, not that charming, 'Dine with Me' is like a passable but ultimately fruitless first date which won't have you rushing back for a second; more in the 'just good friends' category.

A Bit of a Domestic

'Life of  Riley'(BBC1) follows in the trail of 'Outnumbered' and other domestic, suburban, half-hour long, nuclear/step-family sit-coms.Of course, family life is mostly a round of domesticities, laundry baskets, dinners and humour but the tv portrayals of the family tend to concentrate on the first three items and are slim on the last. Caroline Quentin ('Men Behaving Badly') as the mother/wife 'Maddy Riley' is a fine comic actress and Neil Dudgeon ('A Touch of Frost', 'Midsomer Murders') plays a daft Dad deftly. You won't die laughing but you will smile; 'Life of Riley' never challenges the genre, preferring the comfort of a traditional sit-com structure. There's some good studio audience chuckles coming from intra-generational generated laughs. (Dad is rubbish with new technology, Mum unsuccessfully tries to use her kids argot). Sunday afternoon fare that has 'thetvreviewguy' thinking he could write this kind of stuff if he really wanted to and maybe he should. In the meantime, he'll have to be happy with a lot of mildly-amusing comedy shows and unearthing a few gems here and there. 'Life of Riley' is passable, and in someways, ideal viewing for overcast weather days. If  it gets stressed-out parents some peace for a while then that makes it even better.