Bo' Selecta!

STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs

Avid Merrion,a jarring,creepy individual who makes it seem like Transylvania should be proud to boast The Cheeky Girls amongst it's national heritage,is the man behind the growingly popular and therefore,as ever in this day and age or so it would seem,unbelievably crap Bo' Selecta!,a crass,vulgar and ultimately rather pathetic no laughs fest,with crass costume designs and inaccurate,unfaithful parodies of certain celebrity figures.Take Merrion's take on Michael Jackson,for instance.He sends him up in the costume he wore in his Beat It video,as though the last 20 years have never happened or something.No Martin Bashir related jokes here,that's for sure.And yeah right,he's some gentle,publicity shy figure who goes strutting around with a foul mouth,calling everyone it would seem a motherf****r,and being generally strangely more deprived of intelligence than he is in real life.This is also a one joke that gets weared thin very quickly,and seems to get overused due to a lack of,it would seem,imagination on the writer's parts.

And then there's the Craig David parody.I mean,come on.You only need to see him in an interview to see how humble and,especially for someone of his age,well spoken the guy is.Why,then,is he lampooned as some kind of common northerner who's into bird fancying?

It's a bit of a shame because had the personalities been a bit better researched,this might have rised slightly above the ranks of dire.Take Alistair McGowan's Big Impression,for instance.That worked,and was funny,because it perfectly parodied the celebrity figures it was taking the mick out of,and did,in fact,do it to a tee.

As it is,it's just a non event,rarely,if ever,funny,with tired,frequently recycled gags,produced by a man with an off putting fascination with a fickle,superficial culture of celebrity and just goes to show the depths certain Channel 4 programming will plummet to.*

It wasn't until last Summer that I found out BO SELECTA actually existed . I was completely unaware of the first series and only saw the second one which caused me to split my sides

BO SELECTA isn't a show that can be described as original , it's like ALI G meets SPITTING IMAGE while overdosing on LSD and Spanish fly . Avid Merrion ( Leigh Francis ) is a " stalker " who pursues unsuspecting celebs most of whom are young blond and female . It might not be sophisticated but it is very funny to see the girls from Liberty X telling Avid to " F*** off " . There's also surreal sketches with Francis done up like Mel B , David Beckham and best of all Michael Jackson who isn't the strange creature who lives at Neverland ranch but is a funky homeboy - Rick James meets Samuel L Jackson . It's difficult to describe how funny it appears on screen . I could describe the time Michael went to New York with Blanket Baby - " I call that motherf***er Blanket Baby because I put a blanket over the motherf***er's face . That's right HEE HEE " - and asked if anyone saw a " Lionay " - " Where the motherf***in' lionay at ? You seen the lionay bro ? " , but I'd be unable to do it justice . I'll just say watch it and weep with laughter

Unfortunately Francis has become a victim of his own success and series three reflects this . The format has been changed to a talk show akin to THE MUPPET SHOW where guests like Sean Pertwee , Abi Titmuss , Johnathan Ross etc are in on the joke and most of the series fails because of this . Series two worked so well because guests thought they either talking to a genuine weirdo or they were appearing on a children's show with a puppet bear. Anyone remember Jennifer Ellison's face when the bear's " tail " popped out ?

There are still some good points to the third series like having Michael Jackson appearing in the comedy series PORRIDGE with Ronny Barker " Ronny just said remember the time on Going Live when Five Star were on ? That little motherf***er phoned up at said ' I wanna know why Five Star are so f***in' s**t ? ' That's right "

Mel B might think she's still got it , but I'm unsure if Leigh Francis has

This series is not for the faint hearted. And nor is it for those with a "refined" comedic palate. In short, it's definitely not for everyone.

But, for me, it is the funniest show on television. I simply adore the Michael Jackson caricature. To portray him as a foul-mouthed, jive-talkin' brother with his spangly glove, sweatband and Thriller outfit is nothing short of genius. Creator/actor Leigh Francis has MJ followed around by 'Martay' Bashir, is distinctly careless with the baby Blanket and puts a surreal twist on the obsessions of the real-life Wacko (i.e., the fantastic Petay Pan parachute jump). Like Ali G, MJ has quickly gone down in modern comedy folklore.

Craig David, another highlight, has bladder problems, carries around his peregrin falcon Kes and hails from Leeds. David Blaine is sex obsessed and uses his street magic only to fondle the ladies. Mel B (Jim Bowen in a wig) is fabulous, Britney Spears is a drunk and Christina Aguilera a Scouse whore. And all of these celebrities, and many more besides, are wearing ridiculous masks and oversized NHS specs. Totally bizarre yet, when on top form, utterly brilliant.

Having said that, the show is far from perfect. It can get repetitive (especially the now-tiresome Bear), can resort to the overly crude and there are some characters such as Marilyn Manson and Jonathan Ross ("wibble"???) who don't deserve the time of day. Even the host Avid fails to raise a smile on many occasions.

But it is highly quotable (although not always a good thing when a cult show goes mainstream), consistently funny and like nothing you've seen before, or will probably see again.

Sha'mone.

Bo Selecta is a Channel 4 comedy classic that has never ceased to make me laugh. It's great fun for fans of absurdist comedy, if you like stuff such as Reeves and Mortimer then I'd imagine you'll like this too. Much of the humour is derived from the deliberately absurd and over-the-top impressions of celebs, though some are spot on like the impressions of Ant and Dec. Leigh Francis did a brilliant job here and he can be proud after all these years. Series 3 is still very funny but a bit weaker than the other two as the format change meant the guests were in on the joke. In the first two Avid Merrion meets real celebrities who believe he is a real stalker, the part where he interviews Meatloaf is hilarious! Well worth a watch even all these years later.

Bo Selecta is brilliant. If davideo even watched this show he would know that in the 2nd series the michael jackson character carries around blanket and is always followed by Martin Bashir. Secondly the fact that the characters based on famous people don't actually sound like them makes Bo selecta even more fresh and funny. (Check out Britney, David Beckham and the hilarious Mel B). It is true i do find it hard some times to watch Avid Merrion's transilvanian stalker but he is still very funny.

So Schamone Mother F***er