So 30-Rock is back tonight, which means that Tina Fey is back too. Of course, I'm delighted. Fey is fantastic. But I hate the little voice in my head that says: "How come Britain's answer to Tina Fey is Lauren Laverne?" So I say to the little voice: "How come women are always comparing women to other women?"
In the case of Fey versus Laverne, it's clearly because one did Saturday Night Live and the other is currently doing Thursday Night Live. But it's also because Laverne is so very clearly the "token woman", appearing with the lads to make the three of them seem more like the modern, liberal people they like to think they are, and Fey so clearly is not.
Last week was particularly excruciating. The auto-cue went wrong while Laverne and Charlie Brooker were on camera. Neither of them could hold things together, but Laverne started dishing out what seemed like blame and responsibility, yelling at Brooker: "It's your item. It's your item." Other than this, there has been no tiny hint as to why the show has to be live at all. If it's to build creative tension and get the best out of the four performers, then it's not working. At all.
• The following correction will be printed in the Guardian's Corrections and clarifications column, Friday 11 February 2011. An item referring to the Channel 4 current affairs and comedy show 10 O'Clock Live said an auto-cue had failed last week when Lauren Laverne and Charlie Brooker were on camera and "neither of them could hold things together". In fact this segment was a pre-recorded, scripted sketch used to demonstrate the perils of live television.
