Mike Read, Mike Read, slightly down-market of The Members.

I'd forgotten how much of a critical punching bag Filthy Rich & Catflap was when it was broadcast.

1978: Even The Lone Groover had it in for Bruce.

Exclusive to all newspapers, again.

1987: Gus Honeybun joins The Discourse.

Quite a few Top 100 Songs of All Time lists published in the last year or so have featured several numbers by Felix Mendelssohn, but that's just Regency bias.

Shaky Kane does Genesis P Orridge.

Sudden horrific thought: someone's just been here filming the title sequence for the pilot of a post-Esther reboot.

Apparently somebody made and released the most superfluous record imaginable: a JAMMS parody single. Has anyone heard this?

Saturday.

Is there a more stark example of "terrible film, great theme tune" than this? www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvbR...

Watching the first episode of Howards' Way on the Channel Four player, which feels incredibly perverse.

Kenneth Tynan on "relevance".

I see Playschool finally opened their long-promised vineyard.

"Large" is an underrated comedy word. And, yes, an underrated comedian.

One strategic advantage Andy Burnham possesses is that cartoonists attempting to draw him look like they've started off trying to draw Danny Baker and ended up with Ronnie Corbett.

The atmosphere round this way is understandably melancholy tonight, but the lads are consoling themselves by belting out Kenneth Tynan's footballing rewrite of My Way.

I ordered a copy of Russell Hoban's Riddley Walker online but I missed out a "d", so now I'm reading about the post-apocalyptic adventures of a moustachioed cockney spiv and a permanently bewildered old man who wrote a famous play about a haunted railway station.

Not even the "in memoriam" park bench plaques are safe from situationist jiggery-pokery round here.

A nice side-effect of the actual summer weather is the evening streets now being full of cars blasting out the best in '80s/'90s tasseled loafer soul and R 'n' B. Just been passed by a Toyota Yaris (smooth!) blasting this classic at top volume. Nice. youtu.be/NGrMPpGDVSg?...

Second Verdict (1976): Barlow and Watt off Softly, Softly present a series of historical murder cases. I'm sure there.must be other examples of fictional characters presenting their own factual programmes but I can't think of any.

For a split second there I thought I'd wandered into an edition of The Day Today.

If I was a kid, I'd be annoyed at the trend in adverts depicting dads forever hanging out with their sons and playing on the Roblox like they were great mates. I miss the days of parents in ads being either comically disapproving or just sort of "there".

There's an alternate universe somewhere where Golden Balls with Jasper Carrott is just starting its 30th series.

Currently reading Henry Fielding's The Historical Register of 1736, the play that probably did the most to usher in 230 years of over-zealous state censorship of the English stage.

Whistler's Mother says Whistler's busy So why don't you leave him alone? And John Singer Sergeant says forty guineas more For the next Three Portraits

Bed-Stuy at night, Rapper's Delight.

Enjoying the finest fruits of UC Berkeley's prestigious Film and Media faculty.

Two Cup Final questions - when did they stop bothering commissioning and releasing tournament-specific singles? And is there a worse one than Blue Day by Suggs?

WETA's entire resources to be tied up for three years in digitally recreating 1970s Aylesbury.

How has it taken me until halfway through 2026 to realise the chorus of Pluto Shervington's 1976 hit Ram Goat Liver has EXACTLY THE SAME TUNE as the Trumpton clock music?

In any office kitchen you'll hear the muffled sound of contrarian opinions emanating from the cupboard. On opening the door, you realise it's only the ubiquitous Sports Direct Muggeridge.

Ooh, they've done an "elevated horror" film based on that "stuck in an endless corridor" dream everyone has when their brains can't be arsed to make an effort. Can't wait for The Trouserless O-Level Factor.

Tonight's viewing is Fellini's 8 1/2. Or to give it its full Italian title, È Orribile Essere Innamorati Quando Hai 8 1/2.

Turns out the answer to the question "Which sitcom character appears in Finnegans Wake more than once?" isn't the one you'd expect.

What, get so pissed you auction off your wife to the highest bidder?

BAFTAs demonstrating we've now caught up with the US trend of sitcoms being broadly-acted dramas with the saturation cranked up.

Current earworm: Ronnie Barker saying "Life's great! See MSN for details."

"What walks on two legs in the morning, and one leg in the afternoon after it's tried to follow Jon Pertwee's impenetrable road safety advice?" - The Riddle of the SPLINK.

He tells this story "against himself" about Albert and Carl Sutcliffe calling him a twat in a club. Of course the intended takeaway from this is: "Check me out, I frequent the same clubs as Albert and Carl Sutcliffe." I hate Grumblebrags.

1947: it's the original One Show! MacDonald Hobley introduces Kaleidoscope, chock full of quality items. TV technician chat! Youth charades! Instructional violence! Beat the memory man and win a National Savings certificate!

A roughly equal amount of time has passed between today and the release of Blondie's Heart of Glass as there was between the release of Blondie's Heart of Glass and the release of Gracie Fields's Sally (Pride of Our Alley).

1992: Jonathan Meades takes a role as one of the team captains on Tony Slattery's panel game Ps & Q's. He is not having a great time.