Comedian Leigh Francis satirises celebrities and celebrity culture. The show is hosted by Avid Merrion, a celebrity stalker. There's also Michael Jackson, Craig David, The Osbournes, Mel B, Britney Spears, Posh and Becks, to name bit a few, plus a host of temporary, generic celebrities and hangers-on.
A series that pokes fun at celebrities and does so in absurdist fashion. Absurd in that the personalities and mannerisms (and often even appearances!) of the celebs aren't necessarily based on their actual traits. Michael Jackson is a foul-mouthed jive-talking alpha type who does Jackass-type stunts, Craig David walks around with a bird of prey on his arm and has a strong Yorkshire accent, Britney Spears is lager-drinking slag who also has a strong Northern accent, Ozzy Osbourne has incredibly long arms (and is unintelligible - some traits are true-to-life).
This all makes for some hilarious moments without actually having a go at the stars themselves, as the traits they're imbued with are so ridiculous it would be stupid to think that's actually meant to be them.
Holding this all together is Avid Merrion, essentially the host of the show. His antics show up the insanity of fandom and the lengths some people go to.
It is a bit hit and miss though. You do need to know some of the minor celebrities in order to figure out the gag and some are so local and temporary that unless you're an avid watcher of British TV in the early-2000s you won't get who they are or what is being parodied. This isn't always a problem: the vacuousness and genericness of celebrities is highlighted: it doesn't matter what they do as they're pretty much like the next one.
The show also ran out of steam after two seasons. Season 3 felt formulaic and flat: all the best gags had been used and Francis was now just retreading the same old stuff.
Season ratings: S1&2 8/10, S3 6/10.
