Over eleven years since his last (and only) movie outing, MacGruber returns – older, but no wiser. This television series is the latest attempt to make the SNL creation stick (heh), following his 2010 box office flop. MacGruber’s feature length debut may not have made much money, but the character remains a cult favourite, and star Will Forte’s signature role.

While audiences have been eagerly awaiting the character’s return, MacGruber has spent the time rotting away in prison, doing time for the murder of nemesis Cunth (Val Kilmer). When the President’s daughter is kidnapped by terrorists, MacGruber is sprung from prison, to be swapped for the hostage. As the dastardly Enos Queeth’s (Billy Zane) plan is revealed, MacGruber calls upon ex-wife Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig, stealing the show and audiences’ hearts) and old partner Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe) to recover a deadly macguffin and save the world.

Worries that MacGruber might have mellowed with time are unfounded; the series finds the 80s throwback to be as repulsive as ever. Throats are torn out, old passions are steamily re-ignited (in the grossest sex sequences since… well, the last movie) and butt-cracks are everywhere. There’s no joke so dark as to match Cunth’s villain origin story, but that’s not for want of trying. Between the extreme violence, creative swearing and sexual profanities, there’s a puerility for every occasion.

Wisely, MacGruber plays its straight men extremely straight, with Phillippe, Zane, Laurence Fishburne and the mighty Sam Elliot caught in the idiots’ wake. While the twists may be predictable and the pacing suffers from its half-hour TV format, this is a functional action thriller and fully effective comedy vehicle.

MacGruber is available to watch now on Peacock