The Cup

It's easy to feel sympathy for Rick Gervaise and Stephen Merchant: everything they do in future will inevitably be compared to The Office; equally inevitably, everything will fall short of that high standard. At least though, they have the kudos of having created the show. Spare a thought for the creators of pretty much any other sitcom likely to emerge in the next few years: they will struggle to compete, without any of the glory of having done something great.

I enjoyed the first episode of BBC2's new comedy The Cup. It is a mockumentary portrayal of a kids' football team. Slightly predictably, the parents are far more competitive than the kids. The strongest moments by far featured cringemaking father, Terry McConnell's, attempts to make a name for his son. His misplaced ambition, and lack of self-awareness when addressing the camera, were both clever and funny; nevertheless, I couldn't help thinking that I've seen it all somewhere before.

I'll watch it all the way through, and no doubt enjoy it, but I am still waiting for the next groundbreaking sitcom.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00d51ll

Innovative new comedy?

I have heard that the day after The Office was first broadcast, co-creator Stephen Merchant overheard two women talking about it on the train. One woman thought that this new documentary was the funniest thing she'd ever seen, until her friend pointed out that it was meant to be a comedy: "Well it's not very funny", she said.

The creators of BBC 1's Bonekickers may have experienced the opposite effect. If it is a comedy, it is an effort of real genius. It satirises rightwing fundamentalism, archaeology and British low-budget TV drama. The highlight was the scene in which two of the fundamentalists - both some kind of Neo Knights Templar - perish if a blaze of burning crosses.

Sadly, if this programme is meant to be a serious drama, or even just a bit of peaktime fluff, it fails miserably.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bonekickers/