COMEDY is a funny old thing, if you'll pardon the pun. What we perhaps laughed helplessly at 18 months or so ago, might now leave us almost totally unmoved.

Yet when we see some of those old, grainy comedy shows from the television archives of 40 or more years ago, there's often laughter by the load.

Is it a case of quality always standing the test of time with comedy, as with so many other things in life? And will the top comedy shows of today have us rolling in the aisles in 20 or 30 years time, or reaching for the on/off switch?

Three new books give us a chance to compare television comedy past and present.

Steptoe and Son first appeared on our screens 40 years ago and must rank as a comedy classic, while what many regard as Britain's best loved comedy -- Only Fools And Horses -- is now in its 21st year. And while one of the latest generation of entertainers, Graham Norton, has collected various awards, will he go the same way as other big names like Noel Edmonds and Simon Dee, or still be packing them in on Channel 4 in many years time?

The Complete A-Z of Only Fools And Horses (Orion, £20. Rating: HHHH) by Richard Webber with creator of the series, John Sullivan, contains everything you want to know about Delboy, Rodney and all the rest.

Complete with contributions from David Jason, this must rank as the bible for fans of the series. As well as a catalogue of every episode ever filmed and some brand new scripts never before published, there's exclusive inside information from people involved in the making of the programme and little known facts about everyone from the Trotters and Trigger to Boycie and a host of other superb characters.

The show was voted the most popular TV comedy series of all time in a 2002 poll and contains two of Britain's favourite funniest TV moments.

GRAHAM Norton is one of British television's most successful entertainers. He has won four Baftas, an international Emmy and was voted Best Personality at the Comedy Awards 2001. Since being spotted on Channel 5, his rise to the top of British TV has been meteoric to say the least.

Four series of his incredibly popular Friday night C4 TV show, So Graham Norton, were followed in May by V Graham Norton, his nightly ratings-winning series which has only strengthened his position as one of the nation's favourite stars.

Until now, very little has been known about the real man behind the colourful show business persona.

But in Graham Norton -- Laid Bare (Published by Andre Deutsch, £16.99. Rating: HHH), biographer and journalist Alison Bowyer has spoken to many of those closest to Norton to reveal the untold story behind his rise to the top.

Travelling to his native Ireland and also to America to interview relatives, friends and lovers, she has gained a fascinating and revealing insight into this irrepressibly off-beat man.

Graham Norton has obviously got what it takes to attract some of the biggest names in the world on to his show for a chat and a laugh, often at their expense or at the expense of some unsuspecting website owner.

Warm, witty, and intelligent, Graham Norton could easily go from strength to strength.

IT is 40 years since Steptoe and Son first appeared on our television screens, yet it remains a comedy classic, attracting new generations of audiences. It began life as a one half-hour play within a Comedy Playhouse series, but its potential was immediately spotted. It was given a series of its own, and the rest, as they say is history. In Steptoe and Son (Published by BBC Worldwide, £16.99. Rating: HHH) the programme's creators Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, together with Robert Ross, recall the inspiration behind the programme, how it evolved, and the secrets behind its success.

This was the first comedy series truly depicting the lives of Britain's working classes, and the formula has been repeated ever since to great effect, most recently with Only Fools and Horses. The creators also ensured a depth of feeling would be portrayed by fully rounded characters by employing actors -- Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett -- rather than comedians in the lead roles.

Intriguing secrets include how Brambell's old man character, for example, was nearly killed off after the third series, and how a swinging sixties' icon was almost drafted in as a hip new son for the programme.