I read a review of this first episode of the seventh series of My Family, this morning, which said that it was like Extras' fake sitcom 'When The Whistle Blows' but without the irony. Now, for some frankly inexplicable reason you may remember that I'm not a massive fan of Gervais's not-so-subtle hints in Extras series 2 which suggested that his way of doing comedy is great and anything leaning towards the traditional is inherently rubbish. If you do, then you won't be surprised that the said review made me want to come on here and say that last night's My Family was the greatest half of TV ever produced.

But let's face it. That would be a big fat lie.

While I love Peep Show and Garth Marenghi and all those cool shows, I'm quite happy to admit that I've always thought that the first few series of My Family were alright, and better than alright on occasion. You've just gotta be open-minded, people. In Robert Lindsay, Zoe Wanamaker they had a lead pairing that any show should be jealous of, and of course it launched the career of Kris Marshall, who's currently treading the boards with Billie Piper in Treats, and starring in those oddly sombre BT adverts. The talent of these three especially for delivering a line has always been clear to see, and the U.S. style of using loads of writers worked for a good while.

But now it's just so workman-like. Lindsay and Wanamaker even recently refused to record an episode they thought was too poorly written to be associated with, and are clearly now just using it to pay the bills. Marshall jumped shipped years ago, and the new characters haven't added a great deal. The fact that it's middle-class and filmed in front of a studio audience isn't the problem, the fact that there's no life left in the show is. Last night's episode was plodding in the extreme, and you've got to say that this series of My Family should really be the last. [annawaits]