A new TV blog about London? What a good idea, I thought. Throw in some fig rolls and that’s near enough a dream night in. Or at least it would be, if there was actually any TV that was particularly London-ish. Weekly updates on that slightly queasy paedophile storyline in Albert Square, and jokes about how difficult it is to understand Riz Latif’s name on BBC London News, wouldn’t even get me to Halloween.

So what is there to recommend that actually has something to do with London? There’s a new series of the actually very good Sarah Jane Adventures on CBBC, which is set in my old stomping ground of Ealing, but opening with a recommendation of kids stuff is likely to leave questions over mental aptitude.

There’s the continuous news channel coverage from outside the Bank of England and around Canary Wharf, watching Robert Peston hold forth about why we should feel bad for sacked bankers. But given that I’m probably unemployed from Christmas thanks to the credit crunch, I’m not feeling very sympathetic. Besides that, there’s naff all else on this week about the capital, what with the schedules being chockful of new-season US imports and nonsense about the US election. Damned revolting colonies.

So that leaves Never Mind The Buzzcocks, which returns to BBC2 tonight at 9pm. So, necessary tenuous London link: poppet Simon Amstell is on nodding terms with a friend of mine in their home environs of the Woodford-ish area. Celebrity high five!

The show’s return is something of a mixed blessing. On the one hand, Amstell can still be very funny when he has guests that can hold their own, so that the show doesn’t feel like a half-hour of c-list baiting that can be uncomfortable to watch. New guests have brought real fresh air to the show. And the writing team have either changed in the last few years or found some verve after the lean, late Lamarr years of Geri Halliwell jokes.

But in another way, things aren’t great. Bill Bailey’s going, and the replacements are not good. Jack Dee and Frank Skinner are each doing a week, but both threaten to undo the good work that was done on giving the show some youthful vigour with their middle aged grumbling. You can imagine it now: Jack Dee complaining about how he’s old enough to have fathered the Kooks, while Frank Skinner wonders why his under-30s co-panellists don’t get his UB40 joke. Hardly Amy Winehouse gobbing wine across the studio, is it?

Dermot O’Leary is doing a week too, which doesn’t exactly lend itself to a Donny Tourette-style comedy outrage moment. And tonight, Mark Ronson is on. While he may be great at making up panel numbers with his addled ramblings, the man is hardly a main stage attraction in his own right.

The revitalised Never Mind the Buzzcocks still remains the best panel show on TV, and, by extension, the best show on Dave. New episodes certainly won’t hurt. But even if the writers continue to pull their weight, the guest booking department could do with a swift kick up the backside.

ALSO SHOWING: Comedy’s big night out at the Albert Hall, the Secret Policeman’s Ball 2008, Sunday 9pm, Channel 4. It’s like the Secret Policeman’s Ball 2007, only with a significantly worse line-up. (Dear Amnesty: when you’re reliant on giving stage time to the poor man’s Peter Kay, Jason Mansford, it’s time to find a new way to raise money. Human rights aren’t that important.)