IT should have been the highlight of the viewing year - Peter Kay satirising Cowell inspired TV talent shows.
But how do you lampoon something that in itself is a parody?
Kay's Britain's Got the Pop Factor and Possibly a New Celebrity Jesus Christ Soapstar Superstar Strictly on Ice (Channel 4, Sunday) featured moments of pure genius but, like the first live round of The X-Factor on Saturday (ITV1), it just went on too long.
The three Kay finalists - Irish transexual Geraldine, young singer R Wayne and group with a difference 2 Up 2 Down - took as long as the 12 X-Factor contestants to perform.
The show was packed with all the X-Factor irritants - the sob stories, the worn out cliches and the contrived changes of mind (at one point R Wayne was rejected, then brought back when his gran died on hearing the news).
There were even times, however, when the performances and choreography outshone that displayed in the previous evening's X-Factor show, which to be fair wasn't difficult!
The thought did occur that, if Simon Cowell wants to give his show the new lease of life it badly needs, he could do far worse than make Peter Kay an offer he can't refuse to be a panellist.
I'm bored rigid with the predictable comments and spats between the present encumbents. Let Bolton's jester loose on the cry baby wannabe contestants and the series could have years left in it yet.
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