Grumpy Old Men

What a load of old cobblers! BBC2s 'Grumpy Old Men' purports to channel the gripes of celebrites every day mundanites and how these get on their nerves so much that they're pracically apopleptic with rage. In fact, of course, a savvy not-so-funny twenty-something researcher/producer has dredged this topic out from the ever so predictable list of trivial inconveniences to modern, civilised life. So these 'old' (when did 45 become old?) men and women desperately pretend to be agitated by, variously, people who buy food in garages, mobile phones (yawn), teenagers and popcorn in the cinema. Oh give it a rest Grandad! This show's about as original as as an old man's wardrobe and as funny as a hip operation. But you've got to love these celebs and their 'wit'. Laugh? 'thetvreviewguy' nearly had a hernia...

X Factor? More like zzz factor

Talent shows; when are they never not on? It used to be a comfort travelling outside of Ireland and Britain being able to laugh at the cheapness and cruddyness of the Italian game show or Maltese variety contest. Laugh no more; for the last 8 years or so, we have been plagued by a non-stop convyor belt of 'talent' shows seemingly on all year round. In the process, Simon Cowell has become a billionaire, Piers Morgan an international star and a guy called Randy has become famous for using the word 'dog'. Spare us the life journey, the sob story, the laughing at the deluded, the pseudo-drama and the woefully short shelf life of the latest contest winner. For 'thetvreviewguy', talentless (sick) shows jumped the shark when a) the British Prime Minister appeared on one of them and b) a respected broadsheet asked that 'Dancing on Ice' (was it that one? Ed) and 'X Factor' be scheduled not to clash with one and other. The barbarians aren't just at the gates; they've crooned their way into the Keep and won't be happy until the whole edifice is torn down, ideally between 6 and 9pm. But it's just a bit of fun - like playing on the railway lines, our culture runs the risk of being smashed to smithereens by the oncoming train that is...'Unbreak My Heart'

Curb your Enthusiasm

Ah Larry David. You can do little to nothing wrong as a writer and little to nothing right as a character. The thinking man's everyman, Larry blunders from one faux pas to the next, avoiding his 'stop and chats', overusing his 'human lie detector' where he stares into his suspects eyes like a demented gibbon and putting his foot into it at every opportunity. It is comedy as farce but great farce. Nothing is too petty to fall below Larry's radar; you invented the Cobb Salad? Oh yeah, really? Prove it! Got a tip off about a terrorist attrocity in LA and you have a choice; stay with your wife or leave the city? A no brainer; head for the hills! The irony of course is that Larry is in real life a liberal benefactor and all-round good egg Democrat. He is also a hell of a lot much funnier than his erstwhile side-kick Jerry Seinfeld. 'Curb' is wonderfully quotable and laugh out loud hilarious. As Wilde said about the death scene of Little Nell, only one with a heart of stone would fail to laugh at this. Comedy as it should be and life as it is; superb stuff.

'Pete versus Life'

Channel 4's 'Pete versus Life' is damn funny. Think of 'Peep Show' with the commentary not an inner monologue but two actual commentators rewinding and highlighting the protagonist's gaffes and scores. Pete's a young sports journalist and a bit of weasel; the ensemble cast of twenty somethings support him and each other extremely well as he wanders his way from woman to pub to friends. The rewind gag is smart as we'd all like to to a Groundhog on mistakes; the former Geordie porter from Alan Partridge's motel gives an hilariously straight-laced portrait of a 'Sky Sports' talking head. Good for laughs either staying in or after the pub, hopefully 'Pete verus Life' will hopefully get a second series. Not reinventing the wheel but most amusing all the same, the 'Older Woman' episode is an absolute gem. Looking forward to much more.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/pete-versus-life

30 Rocks!

'30 Rock' is one of 'thetvreviewguy's top comedies. Tina Fey never lets us down with her trademark role as smart/ditz producer trying to run a madhouse that is a tv programme a la Conan O'Brien. Her staffers love her but always have her tearing her hair out. Her boss, the splendid Alec Baldwin, always keeps Liz Lemon, or 'Lemon' as he never ceases to call her, digs the chance to tease her for her all round failure to find a man, without which, of course, she can never be happy. She is brilliantly accomplished as the classic singleton that 'thetvreviewguy' can't help but fall in love with. 'The Larry Sanders Show' paved the way for this funny, witty and sassy comedy. Definitely one for the box set.

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