Should Jaquie jack it in?

The second helping of The Jaquie Brown Diaries continues to spoof the world of TV and shallow celebrity as its protagonist lurches from one embarrassment to another – but for how much longer?

The last series ended with Brown (spoofing herself and her career) self-destructing as a comic relief current affairs reporter, thanks to her all-consuming jealousy of her workmate and accidental nemesis, Serita Singh. Life went from bad to worse as she went from being a weathergirl to working in a discount carpet store, before running over a lady on a mobility scooter.

In the meantime, Serita has flourished, scoring her own TV show as well as a top 10 single and album (did Madeleine Sami really do her own singing for that bit?). And yes, Ms Brown's still hosed off and jealous, and being completely unprofessional about it. But what can she do to rejuvenate her career?

Her scowling, cynical yet strangely alluring agent Kim managed to find her a radio job (she immediately lost points with me for playing Kajagoogoo – sorry, Jaquie, but not even the familiar justification of kitschy irony can excuse that), but she had to interview Serita, and of course she got bitchy and ended up making a fool of herself.

And an indiscretion in a public toilet looks to have scuttled her chances of getting her old job back.

Celebrity may be "like a stain you can't remove", as Brown laments, but considering that many Kiwis are waking up to the fact that our pathetically small pool of "celebrities" consists of professional partygoers from Auckland, plus anyone who's been on TV for five minutes, it's a milieu that does a good job of making itself look ridiculous.

Will this show really extend itself and take no prisoners, or will it continue to exist as a vehicle for celeb cameos?

Broadcaster James Coleman (having fun as a bad guy) and former Nelsonian (and presenter of TVNZ7's very good Back Benches) Wallace Chapman were featured last week; Rhys Darby, taking further advantage of his Flight of the Conchords flash of fame, pops up this week.

The bottom line is that Brown can get only so many laughs out of self-deprecation and humiliation before she risks becoming the butt of the joke fulltime.

I'm enjoying her antics, but also praying that there'll be a happy ending.

Same name, more familiar spelling – Nurse Jackie (Tuesdays on TV3) is TV's latest morally compromised character.

I always though Edie Falco was one of the best things about The Sopranos, and although she's playing another busy, serious woman with a sharp tongue, there are few actresses who do it better.

Jackie Peyton is a New York emergency room nurse who gets through her working day thanks to occasional jolts of prescription medicine, illegally obtained from the hospital pharmacist, who she's having an affair with. When she's not having a quick shag with him, she's clashing with management, coping with supply shortages and breakdowns, and babysitting a naive medical student. There are the usual touching and tragic hospital moments, but plenty of dark humour as well.

- © Fairfax NZ News