"Superbad and Supercamp at the Same Time"

As well as cutting many of TV's topper-most programmes short for the year, the American writers' strike has had another unfortunate side-effect. It's highlighted the many flaws in the usually excellent Prison Break.

Watching PB week in, week out, the excitement builds, the tensions rises and even the odd duff episode can be ignored because you know something huge is coming next week. Problem is, when you have to endure several breaks during a short season, the momentum is lost, the anticipation dwindles, and every setback to Michael and co's plans seems quite obviously an attempt by the writers to drag the series out.

Series three hasn't been great. The prison that apparently even the army doesn't dare enter is more like Maplin's holiday camp. T-Bag, Bellick and Mahone have been criminally underused. The death of Sarah - while providing impetus for Michael's actions - has left no sympathetic female characters. No one knows whether chief baddie Susan B should be called Susan B or Gretchen. And, well, what's with Whistler and his Oddie-esque birdwatching book?

At present, it seems that PB will be back for a fourth series - which should hopefully see Michael embark on a roaring rampage of revenge against the so-rubbish-she's-excellent Gretchen. Jodi Lyn O'Keefe has been the best thing about the third series - her Gretchen is superbad and supercamp at the same time. And a full on cat-fight between her and Wentworth Miller next season could wipe-out all memory of this year's lacklustre series.

Blimey!

What is Kenneth from 30 Rock doing in the new Mariah Carey video? Does Mimi have more of a sense of humour than we could ever have imagined (though the whole Emancipation thing was hysterical in its own way)?

A live-action re-imagining of Captain Scarlet

Why do soap stars believe the hype surrounding them? Why can't they see that viewers love their characters, not the actors behind them? Eh?

The latest victim of their own success is Corrie's Rob James-Collier. After picking up gongs at a few TV award bashes, he's now quitting Corrie for fear of being typecast. Quite how you can become typecast when your character has virtually no character is a bit of a mystery, and while Liam has gelled really well with Steve MacDonald and the other Connors, the real reason why he's so popular is because he looks good with his top off. Rob's not a bad actor at all - in fact he's really quite watchable - but he's not going to be able to carry his own series. When he does pop up on TV again, he'll probably just be playing Liam but in The Bill or Holby City. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, but why leave Corrie to do this? Look at Phil 'Des Barnes' Middlemiss who quit the soap claiming he'd never show up in any other soapy drama, only to find himself stuck in Where the Heart Is.

Mind you, Liam's hardly been given the best storylines so far. His relationship with Maria has been rushed so the writers could produce a love-triangle with the wonderful Carla (seeing as how her husband Paul quit sooner than expected) and the whole lost in the Lake District thing was just dull.

One thing I'd pay to see Rob in, though, is a live-action re-imagining of Captain Scarlet. He's a dead ringer for Captain Black. Please someone commission this now.

Five really shouldn't have this programme

Is there anyone over at Five in charge of scheduling? And I'm not (yet) talking about the vastly unimaginative way Britain's fifth channel is exploiting its vastly unimaginative acquisition of Neighbours. I'm not even talking about the terrible treatment meted out to Alias, Angel or even the last series of Grey's Anatomy.

Nope, I'm pretty miffed with how 30 Rock - one of the few funny US sitcoms still in existence - has ended up sitting in the schedules at midnight on Thursdays. Sure, it's not the sort of series that's going to appeal to the mass market, but treated correctly 30 Rock could develop a loyal, adoring audience. It's inventive, surprisingly political and often incredibly funny. With the first series due to conclude this week, 30 Rock has really found it's feet and knows what it excels at - and the second season really hits the ground running.

Despite being the series creator, Tina Fey repeatedly sets herself up as the fall guy for every gag, and Alec Baldwin is my new hero as curiously enigmatic network boss Jack. The show is full of so many great ideas - Jack's relationship with Condeleeza Rice, The Rural Juror, spoof Eddie Murphy movie Fat Bitch, Avian Bone Syndrome, Paul Reuben's insane European monarch...

Is there any chance of Five rerunning the series in the 6.30 slot before season two starts? Probably not - especially if there's repeats of Becker to hand. Five really shouldn't have this programme (in much the same way Entourage and The Office are lost on ITV2). Someone please give FX a larger budget so they can buy up all the good US stuff and leave Five to its ceaseless CSI reruns.

And watch (some of) the best 30 Rock moments here.