TV Picks of the Week

To me the scramble for tickets for the Olympics had a whiff of the emperor’s new tracksuit about it. The organisers say that London 2012 will be an accessible and affordable Games, leaving a lasting sporting legacy. But 1.8 million people applied for the ticket lottery, with just a few getting their hands on them, including a friend of mine who has never watched a sports event in his life but was overcome with emotion upon learning he’d bagged a ticket to the fencing. It may be over in less than ten seconds, but a million people applied for the men’s 100m final alone. Why?

Perhaps Antony Barnett will have the answer to that £9 billion question in this Dispatches Special.

BEST TEEN DRAMA Gossip Girl

Monday, 8pm, ITV2

Ah, that point when the teens in a hit teen drama are no longer teens and their will-they-won’t-they romances become as grating as a needle skipping on a Justin Bieber track. With Gossip Girl emoting its way through its fifth season, the Chuck/Blair relationship boiled over long ago, but the producers are just firing up the stove anyway. Hooray!

BEST COMEDY

Kevin Bridges What’s The Story?

Wednesday, 10:45pm, BBC1

Watching stand-up comics present television programmes can be almost as bad as watching television presenters trying their hands at stand-up comedy. But Kevin Bridges is a right old laugh and this episode sees him focusing on what it is to be funny man in Scotland. Here he discusses accents in comedy and gets a voice coaching lesson.