Brian Beacom: BBC Scotland�s announcement that a few TV series made in Glasgow for the network are to be recommissioned is rather like hearing of a teacher who gives kids gold stars for work that�s not much better than ordinary.

BBC Scotland's announcement that a few TV series made in Glasgow for the network are to be recommissioned is rather like hearing of a teacher who gives kids gold stars for work that's not much better than ordinary.

Entertainment commissioning editor Alan Tyler will no doubt be smiling from ear-to-ear that his babies The Old Guys and Life of Riley are to return for a second series, but with that news should come a slightly embarrassed feeling as both sitcoms are defined by a lack of originality.

For example? The Life or Riley, the dysfunctional family tale which stars Caroline Quentin, began with a teenager making a joke about someone "Sounding like Orville on speed". Not only has no-one under the age of 30 ever heard of Orville, any writer who uses the phrase "like... on speed" should be jailed.

As for the Old Guys, featuring "two elderly delinquents with a sex drive"? Well, it's a nice idea, but it's as original as Katie Price's cleavage and far less funny, the format having been used better and bolder by Ford Kiernan and Greg Hemphill in BBC Scotland's Still Game.

There's also the question mark over the cultural identity of The Life of Riley and The Old Guys, written by English writers and performed by English actors. Can they be claimed as a Scottish success story?

Rab C Nesbitt, made by independent The Comedy Unit, is however quintessentially Scottish and this highly intelligent lowlife creation is being brought back to series life once again after 10 years. No-one could dispute that Rab's tatty pin-striped legs can still run after picking up four million viewers for the Christmas special.

However that's not say that the commissions of Old Guys and Life of Riley should not be celebrated. Their return may have been part of a positive discrimination initiative which seeks to address the problem that north Britain contributes just 3% of programming to the nation. But the politics isn't so important. What is important is that work is coming to Scotland.

The new series will be filmed here, which means employment for a small of army of actors, directors, producers and technicians. It also offers increased business opportunities for catering companies, hotels and taxi companies.

Yes, it's rather funny that the £188m state-of-the-art facility at Pacific Quay is being rewarded for producing television comedy that isn't.

Then again, The Old Guys and Riley are still funnier than Perrin.