Love On A Saturday Night (ITV1); Angels In America (C4); 'Kerry closes in on battle with Bush' ran the top headline on Teletext News yesterday morning. That's a bit over the top, I thought - making the latest I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! bulletin the lead story.

Surely there were more important world matters than a update on a bunch of minor celebrities spending two weeks in the Australian jungle.

Then it dawned that the words referred to the US politician and not the former member of Atomic Kitten imprisoned in the rainforest.

That programme is giving ITV tremendous viewing figures, something that will elude its Blind Date replacement Love On A Saturday Night. This might more accurately be called I'm A Viewer... Get Me Out Of Here And On To Another Channel. It made you yearn for the return of Cilla and her dating game.

There's nothing wrong with Davina McCall who presents the new love programme, although the jury is still out on co-host Jonathan Wilkes. He's better than on You've Been Framed, although that's not saying much.

The format is far too basic, leaving little room for the personalities of the contestants to shine through.

Laura - 24, dumped two years ago, no proper boyfriend since then - had to pick from three men Mr Red, Mr Blue and Mr Green. Her colour-coded beaux wore masks, leaving her to choose on personality not looks. For all she knew, she could select a date with the Phantom of the Opera.

She was looking for a man who appreciated "sucky blankets", a reference to the old piece of cloth she clings to and sucks at moments of stress. Perhaps she needs a shrink not a boyfriend.

Meanwhile Wilkes put on a hairnet and visited a sweet factory in Stockport. "I look a doughnut, don't I?" he asked, to which the only possible answer was a very emphatic "Yes."

One worker, Lucy, was selected to be given a makeover and then choose from all the available men in the area who'd responded to an appeal to come on down to the factory.

There was more bounce in Jordan's boobs than any of this. Even Love Idol, in which Pop Idol failure Sam was found a girlfriend was a letdown. The judging panel of fellow Pop Idol failure Mark Rhodes, Nicki Chapman and Neil Fox picked a cheerleader ("very flexible") as the girl for him.

As Fox said: "If she went on a date with Sam, she'd eat him alive." Sounds like he's in for a good time.

The biggest challenge of the weekend wasn't confronting snakes and bugs in a bushtucker trial but committing yourself to six hours of the Golden Globe-winning drama Angels In America.

C4's decision to screen the six chapters in two very long chunks was possibly a mistake. There was much to digest here in Tony Kushner's adaptation of his award-winning stage play about Aids sufferers during the Reagan era. Politics, religion and family were among the life and death matters under discussion in a production that mixed realism and fantasy, and even some humour.

By the time we caught sight of a winged Emma Thompson descending from heaven accompanied by a blinding white light, this seemed only marginally more disturbing than Jordan traipsing around the jungle in a tutu.

Published: 09/02/2004