Episodes - Meta TV misses the spot

The shallowness of relying on big names, starring Matt Le Blanc.

The latest sitcom from Friends co-creator David Crane stars Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig as a British couple who write a hit BBC TV show. They move to LA to recreate their sitcom for a US audience, but realise the studio execs have no intention of sticking to their original concept. Enter the great Matt LeBlanc (Friends' Joey), playing a caricature of himself, who is horribly miscast as the show's protagonist, much to Mangan and Greig's vexation. Frequent laugh-out-loud moments and a host of endearingly awful characters make this series feel like a very promising start, but Americanised one-liners fail to capitalise on Mangan and Greig's distinctly British delivery.

Episodes Series 2

BBC Two's critically acclaimed international sitcom Episodeswill return for a new nine part series next year, written by David Crane (Friends) and Jeffery Klarik (Mad About You). The series has been re-commissioned by Janice Hadlow, Controller of BBC Two and BBC Controller of Comedy Commissioning, Cheryl Taylor.

Episodes staring Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig (both from Green Wing) tells the story of two of successful British comedy writers trying to translate their award winning show to an American audience. Various US TV executives plug in to the process with their ideas of what the public want and how to Americanis(z)e the show, which includes the casting of Friends favourite Matt LeBlanc in the original role. The idea, on paper, is sensational but it's a shame this doesn't quite transfer into practice.

While it was engaging enough to stay tuned until the end, the laughs were few and far between. The concept was in the Gervais-Merchant-esque mould: a form of 'reality comedy' which does cause derision amongst the UK comedy hierarchy - Lee Mack for one isn't a fan - but this one was just a bit wanting in all areas.

The show has been left dangling, hinting at another series, on an interesting cliff hanger, however at this stage it's hard to tell where exactly a second series could go. For my money, the major funny areas of conversion have been covered. While it was an interesting experiment, in the end the true test of comedy is always laughter, and I'm sad to say Episodes lacked a good shot of that.

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Episodes episode 7 review: series finale

It's the series finale of Episodes, and Matt LeBlanc smells of cinammon. Does the show end on a high? Here's Ryan's review...

Episodes 1.7 review

After nearly two months, that's the finale? While Episodes showed signs of life in "Episode Four" and "Five", the show completes its run with an entirely predictable and largely unfunny installment. Everything you'd expect to happen following the events of last week, happened. And without the laughs or drama to cloud that disappointment, the show came to a non-resolution that teased a second season I can't imagine many people craving.

'Episodes' exec: 'LeBlanc is underrated'

Episodes's executive producer Jeffrey Klarik has suggested that Matt LeBlanc is "underrated".