A MAN slipping on a banana skin and falling over is funny. TV comedians on the big screen aren't. There are exceptions to the rule but, more often than not, small screen funny men prove as amusing as a road accident blown up larger than life on the big screen.

As Simon Pegg and the team behind C4's Spaced attempt to conquer multiplexes with Shaun Of The Dead, they might pause to remember what happened to Morecambe and Wise.

Telly's top laughter-makers whose shows pulled in millions of viewers. They could do no wrong - until they tried to recapture their comic act on celluloid as The Intelligence Men, That Riviera Touch and The Magnificent Two failed to reproduce the spontaneity and sparkle of their TV appearances. After failing to score a hat-trick at the box office, they returned to their natural home in the box in the corner of the living room.

They're not alone in failing to repeat small screen success in the cinema. Tony Hancock, Bob Monkhouse, Marty Feldman and Lenny Henry are among others who failed the test.

Few can resist having a go, although we can breathe a sigh of relief that, so far at least, the likes of Bobby Davro and The Krankies have resisted the temptation.

Some have tried and been forgotten, although if we're naming names how about projects that provoked howls of derision rather than howls of laughter. Think Kenny Everett in Bloodbath At The House Of Horror, Jasper Carrott in Jane And The Lost City, and a pre-Del Boy David Jason in The Odd Job.

The recent sight of Harry Enfield, a man who helped change the face of British comedy with characters like Loadsamoney, playing a tooth fairy hunter in Tooth rates high on the embarrassment meter.

Some funny men play it safe by repeating what they do on TV, only at greater length. The risk is that a feature film will expose the flaws or weak links in their comedy.

Ali G Indahouse was more of the same from the Sacha Baron Cohen character as he became involved in politics. He was reasonably successful at spinning out the joke for 90 minutes. Wisely he hasn't tried it again.

Others confine themselves to small roles that don't require them to be funny all the time. After his talents were showcased in Who Done It?, Benny Hill settled for cameos in films like The Italian Job and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He wasn't the star so it didn't matter so much if it didn't work.

There are always some who don't even try to make people laugh, exploring the idea that every comedian wants to play Hamlet. The tragedy is not Shakespeare's unhappy prince, but a comedians' belief they can pull it off. Although there's no denying the novelty value of putting a funny man in the classics, as Kenneth Branagh did by casting Ken Dodd as Yorick in his film of Hamlet.

Contemporary, cutting edge comedians have experience real problems fitting into movies. Lenny Henry had a shot at Hollywood fame and fortune in True Identity, swiftly returning to TV when cinemagoers showed themselves less than enthusiastic.

The makers of the Carry On comedies thought they could revive the series with Carry On Columbus in 1992 by casting the new wave of funny men - the likes of Julian Clary, Alexei Sayle, Nigel Planer - alongside older comics Jim Dale, Bernard Cribbins and Leslie Phillips. Audiences didn't get the joke.

Rik Mayall, himself part of the laugh-free Carry On Columbus, and regular performing partner Adrian Edmondson brought their Bottom brand of gross-out comedy to Guest House Paradiso. The film was notable only for its overuse of projectile vomiting and jokes about private parts being crushed. Who couldn't agree with the critic that wrote "banging your head against a brick wall would be considerably more entertaining"?

The cast included Simon Pegg, the latest TV comedy face to try his luck in the cinema. Shaun Of The Dead comes from the stable that made C4's Spaced. And coming soon is Gladiatress which, as the title suggests, is a female take on Gladiator from the Smack The Pony comic trio of Fiona Allen, Sally Phillips and Doon Mackichan. Whether bigger means better remains to be seen.

Of the current crop of TV comedians on film, Rowan Atkinson is one of the more successful. Mr Bean was a straightforward small-to-big screen transfer. From cameo roles in Four Weddings And A Funeral, he's progressed to his own starring role in spy spoof Johnny English. The fact that he resembled Mr Bean playing at being James Bond didn't worry audiences on either side of the Atlantic.

Steve Coogan could outdo even Atkinson's film success. He didn't attempt to take his famous creations Alan Partridge and Pauline Calf into movies. Instead, he's stopped being funny and taken straight roles.

The so-so comedy The Parole Officer bridged the gap from TV to film. Playing real life club impresario Tony Wilson in 24 Hour Party People, proved his dramatic credentials.

Now he's poised for international stardom, as Phileas Fogg opposite Jackie Chan's Passepartout in a new big budget film based on Jules Verne's Around The World In 80 Days. If it's a hit Coogan will have achieved the global film fame that has eluded so many of his fellow TV funny men over the years.

l Shaun Of The Dead (18) opens in cinemas on April 9.