If ever there was a Friday to just pop your feet up on the couch and get that fleecy blanket out, it's this one. If you were at the Picnic last week you are probably still wrecked and trying to shake off a random post-picnic illness of some sorts. If you are a parent then this is your first week back to school with the kids. And for all you lot in between, try go to the pub to represent the rest of us, but if not, there's lots of room on the couch!

Plenty to watch as well, whether Tubbers is your cup of tea or not, take a look...

The Late Late Show

RTE1: 9.35pm

Ryan is back after his summer hiatus and will be joined by Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley, Rose of Tralee winner Maria Walsh, and the lovely Nancy Ashmawy and her son Baz who will be chatting about the popular 50 Ways to Kill Your Mammy. Sounds like a decent enough lineup so we'll hold off on the slagging until at least five minutes in. Only fair like.

 

Piers Morgan's Life Stories: Alesha Dixon

UTV: 9pm

Piers is also back with his ever so intense interrogation of the celebs. It's kind of like that show from Jerry Maguire where everybody cries isn't it? Anyways, tonight it's singer and Britain's Got Talent judge Alesha Dixon who will be in the hot seat talking about all her first world problems.

 

American Beauty

BBC2: 11.05pm

This Sam Mendez film tells the story of a suburban family man (Kevin Spacey) who finds himself infatuated with a friend of his teenage daughter (Mena Suvari)... and rose petals - he seems to really love those rose petals too. His daughter (Thora Birch) then begins a tentative relationship of her own, while his wife (Annette Bening) embarks on an affair. Dark at times, but often comedically so, Spacey and the whole cast are tremendous in this Oscar winning flick.


8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown

Channel 4: 9:00pm

We do love a bit of Jimmy Carr of a Friday night - with a dry sense of humour that would rival a Kerry man's - he never fails to entertain. In the first of three new comedy editions of the famous quiz, he is joined by team captains Sean Lock and Jon Richardson, along with Peep Show star David Mitchell and stand-up comedienne Roisin Conaty. While Phill Jupitus be joining Countdown faithful Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner and comedian Joe Wilkinson 'helps' Rachel Riley with the letters and numbers.

 

Gino's Italian Escape: A Taste of the Sun

UTV: 10.40pm

Another celebrity chef off on another culinary journey. Although the 'here's one I made earlier' cookery shows were getting pretty old. He sets out on another tour of his home country, this time exploring the north of Italy, where meat is favoured over the pizzas and pastas of the south surprisingly. He begins in Florence by tackling the bistecca alla Fiorentina - a thick and juicy steak, and then heads off to the town of Prato to sample some of its delights, as well as conjuring up his own dessert of apple poached in red wine with amaretti biscuit cream. Mouthwatering stuff altogether.


The Boat that Rocked

UTV: 11.10pm

The perfect Friday night movie if ever there was one. Richard Curtis' The Boat that Rocked tells the tale of a collection of eclectic Djs entertaining 1960s Britain through a pirate station - broadcasting from a boat in the North Sea - all to avoid the Government official who is determined to bring an end to it. The cast of characters are what makes this though, with Bill Nighy at his most Billy Nighi-est, Chris O'Dowd as the hapless lad looking for love, Rhys Ifans being cool as f*ck, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman being his usual awesome self, and a truly epic soundtrack.