[Episodes] is a frustrating comedy, three-quarters of the way to being very funny, but getting there only sporadically.

Actually, I think my review of the opening episode still holds up: the problem lies with our very own Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan, whose banter - as very English husband-and-wife scriptwriters relocated to Hollywood - never quite convinces, probably because it was written by Americans. Which makes Episodes a case of life imitating art imitating life, or maybe the other way round. Whatever, I hate to seem in thrall to the big starry name, but it's Matt LeBlanc playing a revved-up version of himself who makes the thing worth watching, and who gets all the best lines. Catchphrases are cheesy, said Sean (Mangan) last night. "Really," said LeBlanc. "Tell that to my house in Malibu."

Four episodes in and it still feels unformed. Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig act their comedy socks off - and their comedy socks, as we know, are from the very top sock drawer - but the script has a way of leaving them stranded. However much we warm to their characters - a writing duo whose sitcom is being remade in LA with Matt LeBlanc - there's the sense of the comedy never catching fire, the pace never clicking, plots not gelling into anything more than a bunch of scenes with the odd funny line. Tonight, LeBlanc gets drunk in a remote bar and our heroes have to drive out and pick him up, with jokes about sat navs and C-words along the way.

Episodes saw LeBlanc reprise role of drunken man-baby

Tonight's episode was essentially half an hour of Tamsin Greig doing her best impression of an antelope on the lookout for danger, interspersed with the odd zinger from Matt LeBlanc.

Miranda Hart & Tamsin Greig are fabulously funny women

Let's hear it for the girls! Because, leaving aside the disgracefully sexist comments of Andy Gray and Richard Keys, it's been quite a good week for women on the telly.

Four episodes in and this sitcom continues to polarise opinion: some critics think it's subtle and rewarding; others have argued that it lacks zest. In tonight's instalment, Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan's characters - a writing duo whose British sitcom is being remade in LA - are forced to travel to a remote bar to pick up a drunk Matt LeBlanc, who's the star of their show. Be warned: the language is very rude.

Sean and Beverly's Brit sitcom has taken some major knocks in its voyage across the pond.

This week, they start shooting the US version - now called Pucks! - and the middle-aged British headmaster of their script has been turned into a hockey coach played by Matt LeBlanc.

Beverly's dislike of Matt knows no bounds, so she's even more put out when Sean takes a road trip to Las Vegas with him and develops a serious ­man crush. We also learn that the former Friends star could have had enjoyed a ­flourishing career as a porn star - and he just can't resist showing Sean his ­credentials. "It could attack a city," Sean reports back.

Although it doesn't quite hit the comedy high notes, there's plenty to enjoy and the characters feel like real people rather than cartoons. That goes for everyone from Tamsin Greig's Mary Poppins-ish scriptwriter, to their ass of an American studio boss.

Three episodes in, and this comedy about how American studios set about adapting British TV series isn't getting any better. Matt LeBlanc is actually rather charming as an exaggerated version of himself, although unlike Steve Coogan in The Trip or the brilliantly excruciating guest cameos in Extras, he hasn't been asked to venture very near the knuckle when sending himself up. However, the main problem is that Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig, who play the two British scriptwriters out of their depth in Hollywood, are just plain annoying. All their jokes at the expense of the vain, insincere Americans fall flat because their smug reserve is equally unlikeable. Tonight, LeBlanc and Sean (Mangan) try to bond in Las Vegas.

Episodes episode 2 review

Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig's comedy series really hits its stride in episode two. Here's Ryan's review...

In Episodes, the gap between Britain and America is explored from the perspective of married TV comedy writers Beverly and Sean (Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan), whose hit show is taken up by a US network and Americanised beyond all recognition. After last week's opener I aired some reservations about the rhythms of the comedic banter, but hoped that it would get better when Matt LeBlanc (playing a souped-up version of himself) joined in the fun, and last night, with several very good gags both verbal and visual, it did.

Episodes episode 2 review

Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig's comedy series really hits its stride in episode two.