Baddiel's Syndrome

Here's proof that being a witty writer - and occasionally, performer - does not guarantee a great sitcom. There was so much wrong with Baddiel's Syndrome it's hard to know where to start but the revue-standard actors have to bear the brunt of the blame for this embarrassing spectacle. Baddiel himself just isn't up to it as an actor and probably wouldn't claim he is. But Jerry Seinfeld - the lock stock and barrel role model for BS - had the sense to surround himself with quality comic actors. In the one-dimensional American flatmate, BS has the least funny, most grating character on TV in recent memory. The casting of David's real life ...

'Baddiel's Syndrome' is the first offering from David Baddiel in a role as writer and actor and is currently being shown at 10.00pm on Sky One. I had high hopes of this show before it was aired as I had always liked Baddiel's work since his days with 'The Mary Whitehouse Experience', 'Newman & Baddiel, 'Fantasy Football League' and, more recently, 'Baddiel & Skinner Unplanned'. To say I was underwhelmed by this show would be an understatement. It has a very familiar format, so familiar in fact, that it is a direct rip-off of 'Seinfeld' - something that no British actor/writer/comedian should even ...