Coronation Street has done it more than once. ER has done it. And last year BBC3's Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps did it. All of the aforementioned shows have had a bash at live outings. For those interested in the live TV comedy/drama phenomenon, the Two Pints episode goes out at the NFT next Wednesday, followed by a discussion featuring cast member Will Mellor, writer/producer Graham Duff and executive producer Stephen McCrum.

The big question is whether comedy thrives of the sheer thrill of live performance. The simple answer, of course, is yes. And no. Some shows such as The Office are plotted with military precision, with umpteen retakes until things are exactly right. I can't imagine David Brent going live. Curb Your Enthusiasm is improvised around a loose script, but that doesn't mean it could be filmed live either. In fact it would really be taking a risk.

Where something is broader and not so dependent on the finer nuances of language, maybe live is the answer. That is where Two Pints came into its own. Its testosterone-fuelled ladcom themes and innuendo certainly thrived in the adrenaline-rush of the format, but whether it made up for a top-notch script I'm not so sure. Of course, in the old days in the fifties before low-cost videotape, programmes often went out live, with the cast running breathlessly across the studio from set to set, so what they did was hardly new, just not done out of necessity.

These day live formats are probably little more than a bit of a gimmick to boost ratings. Two Pints had been going for so long maybe this was the way of attracting fans who had never bothered to watch it before. It is certainly a considerable acheivement, whatever you think of the show. Apart from all the other logistical and technical reasons, it meant that the cast had to make sure they learnt their lines.There was no chance of a retake here. Crikey, it was almost like being a proper actor in the theatre.