THERE is so much on television in these days of 24-hour entertainment it is easy to let some genuine gems slip by.

One of those is surely the comedy drama Mum, which is so gentle and unassuming it could easily be overlooked.

Watch it - it will remind you of at least one person you know or have known. There are no special effects, not a great deal of dialogue, but a huge amount of well-timed and well-observed moments of family life, both excruciating and sweet in equal measure.

What a shame they only made a handful of episodes.

A third series has already been written but there are rumours it will be the last. I’m all for going out on a high but we have barely got to know the characters - why are British writers so afraid of over-staying their welcome.

In America there is a system of having eight series or seasons, if a show takes off and gets beyond the first one. No more than eight seasons - no matter how stratospheric it goes.

There is a lot of British content which would go a long way in following this advice - Keeping up Appearances, Last of the Summer Wine and both dramas featuring Holby for example.

And the programmers over there are brutal if something isn’t working - the swinging axe of cancellations can fall at any time.I still mourn the loss of the Following, an admittedly quite brutal serial killer yarn starring Kevin Bacon, whilst only in its third series.

He was probably quite relieved to get back to his chirpy mobile phone ads but I still think it had a bit more in the tank. But not enough of my fellow viewers agreed so it had to go.

For every Sopranos, Game of Thrones and Dexter there are a hundred that don’t make it past the pilot or the first series in America. But over here we are still wading through weekly offerings of Casualty and Holby City - who is still watching them?

I was one of the first super fans of ER, which launched a certain George Clooney’s career, but they knew when it had had its day, even after umpteen series.

And while I am on a rant I just don’t want to watch celebrities doing anything other than what they normally do to make themselves slightly well known.

I want to watch talented people, acting out clever dramas and comedies - I want more Mum, more Car Share and more In the Long Run.

I don’t want to see Z-listers travelling the world looking for the elixir of youth, or folks from Goggle Box doing boot sales.