It began in Australia and has grown in popularity around the world.
The Men's Shed movement has provided a shared space where men (and sometimes women too) can gather and forge friendships while repairing and recycling items, doing woodwork or other craft making.
It's helped older or unemployed men, in particular, to find a sense of purpose, contributing to their local communities and, in some cases, has helped them to address loneliness.
Men's Sheds have been so popular, it's no big surprise someone has spotted the opportunity to build a comedy drama around it.
BBC1's 'Shedites' is an attempt to do just that.
Essentially a 30 minute pilot for a show, created by 'Mrs Brown's Boys' cast member Paddy Houlihan, it features that sitcom's star Brendan O'Connor and his son Danny who plays Buster on the hit BBC and RTE show that has been repeatedly panned by the critics.
Don't let that put you off because the cast also includes 'Moone Boy' star and accomplished stand up Deirdre O'Kane, experienced comic actor Simon Delaney, Shane Casey who is Billy Murphy in 'The Young Offenders' and, rather surprisingly, Phil Davis of 'Quadrophenia' and 'Whitechapel' fame.
Unlike 'Mrs Brown's Boys,' it's not a studio based sitcom but does it land its jokes?
Houlihan, the O'Connors, Casey, Davis and Delaney play six men in a community on the outskirts of Dublin who attend a local men's shed.
Brendan O'Connor is Jimmy, the apparently cynical one who's always quick with a joke with a jag but is much softer than you think.
Houlihan is a character called Paddy the Liar which really doesn't require much explanation.
Danny O'Connor plays Cheesy, a younger man lacking in self-confidence who is desperate to get a job as a postman and spends much of his time fretting about it.
Casey's part is as Paul, a crafty Corkman and Delaney is Gavin, a rather obsequious member of the group.
Rounding it all off is Davis' Harry, an Englishman who has just come out of hospital after a period of illness and O'Kane's Orla, a local councillor who is always on the lookout for a good photo to advance her political ambitions.
The pilot sees the group building a bike for a local Santa Dash race and deciding who will ride it.
In the hands of someone like Peter Kay, you could see how the show's premise of a single camera, location shot sitcom based around a Men's Shed might actually work.
However Houlihan is no Peter Kay.
So instead of a 'Phoenix Nights' or 'Car Share,' what you end up with is a sitcom that's a bit like 'Mrs Brown's Boys' meets 'Last of the Summer Wine' minus the laughter track.
Some of the quips in Houlihan's pilot episode are as recycled as the parts the gang use to build their bike.
So called banter like "seriously, it's like watching evolution in reverse' or "if you had brains, you'd be dangerous" are staggeringly unoriginal and lacking in imagination.
Even when Houlihan does come up with a one liner like "this isn't recycling, this is biological warfare," it's just anodyne.
As for the performances, both O'Connors, Casey and Houlihan deliver the kind of performances you expect - a bit middling.
Delaney overacts in what is essentially a panto performance, while O'Kane does her best with a role that's too broad brush.
As for Davis, he's the most convincing and, as you'd expect, he acts everyone else off the screen.
However it's like he's in a different show.
Somewhere lurking inside 'Shedites' is a decent idea for a comedy drama that can mix acerbic gags with genuinely heartwarming humour.
It just isn't this.
However the BBC shouldn't give up on the show just yet.
If they can find the right writer who can help Houlihan avoid stating the obvious and dial down the cartoon depiction of some characters and the mawkishness, they might have a hit sitcom on their hands.
It would help if they changed its title too which sounds like a Biblical tribe or a medical condition.
('Shedites' was broadcast on BBC1 on January 1, 2026 and waa made available on the iPlayer)
Speaking of sitcoms that aren't quite the sum of their parts, BBC1 continues to show faith in Tom Basden's suburban sitcom 'Here We Go'.
With three series under its belt and a Christmas special, the Jessops are back with another story of plans going awry.
Landing a New Year's Eve special, the plot sees Jim Howick's uncool dad Paul and his stressed out wife, Katherine Parkinson's Rachel plan a break with her enthusiastic brother Robin, his assertive partner, Tori Allen-Martin's Cherry and their new baby.
Joining them is Jude Morgan-Collie's teenager Sam Jessop who, as always, documents everything on a video camera.
Arranging a house swap online which will see them spend New Year's Eve in the West Country instead of Bedford, Paul's mum, Alison Steadman's Sue and their sarcastic daughter, Freya Parks' Amy opt to remain in the flat they now share.
As usual, we flash back to Bonfire Night where we see Paul spectacularly fail with a fireworks display and then fast forward to Christmas Eve where the house swap is arranged and we learn he's acquired other fireworks for the New Year.
Needless to say, the house in the West Country turns out to be a disappointment and the Jessops find themselves dashing back to Bedford when they discover those who are occupying their home have organised a party that could get out of hand.
Fresh from the critical success of his movie 'The Ballad of Wallis Island,' does Basden's sitcom finally click into place?
It very nearly does.
The New Year's Eve special is definitely one of the show's better episodes, with Howick and Parkinson leading the line well once again, with well judged comic performances.
Allen-Martin also continues to amuse, while Basden's character continues to tread a fine line between being endearing and irritating.
Steadman takes her moments when they come while Parks and Morgan-Collie are just okay.
Ed Kear reprises his role as Robin's annoying sidekick Dean.
As a one-off episode, the New Year's special again makes the case for the BBC to persist with a comedy that certainly has its moments.
But we are still waiting for an episode that elevates 'Here We Go' into the ranks of the best British suburban sitcoms like 'The Good Life,' 'Ever Decreasing Circles,' 'Friday Night Dinner' and 'Gavin and Stacey'.
Time will tell if Basden can really achieve that goal.
(The New Year's Eve special of 'Here We Go' was broadcast on BBC1 on December 31, 2025 and waa made available on the iPlayer)
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