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When Simon Amstell quit his job hosting Never Mind the Buzzcocks last year, I was a bit dismayed and more than a little surprised. After all, he was brilliant at it. His sarcastic delivery and merciless piss-taking of his celebrity guests wasn't to everybody's taste, but for those who dug the Amstell brand of humour he single-handedly turned the panel show into the funniest programme on TV.
Now he's back with the product of his post-Buzzcocks work: a new BBC2 sitcom, Grandma's House. The premise? A sarcastic TV presenter called Simon is planning to quit his show and find something more meaningful in life, maybe act a bit... Hang on a minute. This sounds alarmingly familiar. In the style of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm, Amstell plays a version of himself, which in this case just happens to be an exact copy.
It also borrows heavily from The Royle Family, with the first episode showing Simon's family sitting around bickering over such trivialities as his aunt's badly-fitting bra, or grandpa's jumper. But whereas that programme was subtle, Grandma's House is more laugh-out-loud funny, and certainly more biting, with a distinctly mean streak of humour. Simon proclaims that he's “congratulated for being mean” and wants to give the show up to be more Buddhist. But it seems old habits die, and the relentless mocking of his dowdy aunt and his mother's dreadful fiancée is brutally funny.
The bickering of the family feels natural and there are some wonderful turns from the supporting cast, most notably Rebecca Front and James Smith, both previously seen in The Thick Of It. The only real problem is Amstell himself. When he announces his decision to the family, his mother immediately responds by proclaiming that he can't act. It proves to be the case. His range of acting is limited to two tones: smug sarcasm or bewildered naivety. Playing himself is the only way he could get away with this, and he just about does, although it often feels like a TV presenter's been plonked down among a set of proper actors.
Saying that, Amstell is clearly a funny writer. From the awkward reaction to his father's cancer (“Should I hug you now?”) to the knowing meditations on fame and celebrity (“you can't be lonely, you've met Michael Bublé”), Grandma's House is full of great lines. Only time will tell whether he should have stuck to what he was good at, but I for one will definitely be tuning in next week.
- Grandma's House continues next Monday at 10pm on BBC2.
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