410 replies to this topic

[SisterOfSylar]

As Lisa Kudrow tried with her own show called The Comeback, here comes Matt with his own, "Episodes".

Couldn't think of anything better at the time. Hope it works.

Anyway, Matt LeBlanc is coming back to television. On Showtime. And it's a comedy.

Quick and Dirty Summary:

Happily married couple Sean and Beverly win yet another BAFTA award for their successful British sitcom, Lyman’s Boys. However, they soon move to Hollywood to remake their series for an American-based audience. Without choice they must cast Matt LeBlanc as himself, who not only damages their reputation and show, but their marriage too.

Articles that will give more info:

USA Today

BBC Press Office

The Hollywood Reporter

LA Time

MSNBC

Pioneer Local

New York Post

Zap2it

[arc]

I'm all for behind-the-scenes sitcoms, even if they do die super fast, but this one's premise is at least one level more meta than it has to be.

[urbanmilkwoman]

I think it sounds pretty good, and Tamsin Greig's in it whom I absolutely adore.

For those not familiar: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=oqG-4Y4qtFg

[Liquid6]

I've been fortunate enough to have seen the first 2 episodes (I work for a cable company and we always get sneek peeks). Trust me when I say that this show is a must see. Gained a whole new respect for Matt Leblanc.

[SisterOfSylar]

Unfortunately I won't be able to watch it as it's on Showtime and I don't have that , but hopefully Netflix will carry it.

I'm glad Matt has found another show, I was disappointed Joey didn't work out. I think Matt is a good actor, he just hasn't had the chance to branch beyond Friends yet, and I've had friends tell me he's fantastic in some of the movies he's put out (Minus the Lost in Space remake.)

Here's hoping the show is a success.

[nairuti]

I've been fortunate enough to have seen the first 2 episodes (I work for a cable company and we always get sneek peeks). Trust me when I say that this show is a must see. Gained a whole new respect for Matt Leblanc.

Is it? Alan Sepinwell's review had me disappointed since I was looking forward to Tamsin. Black Books is one of my favorite comedies.

[blackwing]

I'm all for behind-the-scenes sitcoms, even if they do die super fast, but this one's premise is at least one level more meta than it has to be.

Agreed. I don't fully understand it. It's a show about the making of a show, and one of the characters is "Matt LeBlanc" played by Matt LeBlanc? So we're supposed to believe that the person on the show named Matt LeBlanc is the actor himself, and is how he acts and behaves in real life? I guess it's supposed to be an over-the-top version, but it's a bit too hard to grasp.

If the whole thing is supposed to be a Brits vs. American difference, why is it necessary to make the character "Matt LeBlanc". Why not have him be a former huge sitcom star? The effect is the same.

[arc]

It's a show about the making of a show,

No, that would be Action or the Larry Sanders show or 30 Rock...

I believe this is a show about a show about the making of a show.

Edited by arc, Jan 7, 2011 @ 5:40 PM.

[bluflu]

I saw him promoting the show this morning, he looked so much older than I remembered him. How time flies...

[SisterOfSylar]

and one of the characters is "Matt LeBlanc" played by Matt LeBlanc?

If I'm reading the articles correctly, Matt is playing an extremely exaggerated version of himself. Basically he's going for the persona that most of Hollywood has perceived him as thanks to the crappy Lost In Space Remake, and his decade of performing as Joey. He was typcasted, and saw as that.

I saw him promoting the show this morning, he looked so much older than I remembered him

I know... but I like him with the grey hair. I really hope this succeeds for him honestly.

[Nosleepforme]

I've seen the first two episodes too and I'm not quite sure what to think of them. It has its funny moments, but the characters - including the couple at its center - are so unlikeable that I am not quite sure if I wanna keep watching and while I find Hollywood shallowness and fallaciousness amusing for a short amount of time, I'm not sure if I can take it for a longer period of time if there is nobody that I can root for.

Carol, the assistant of the network executive, was hilarious though, I loved how she always contradicted herself and twisted her words while dealing with the writers. Also the actress who played the head of the comedy department had the weirdest, most hilarious facial expressions that I've ever seen. For a satire the show is disappointingly onesided though, as they really portray the Hollywood people just as ignorant self-involved incompetent dickheads, while the British characters compromise their integrity so much that it is really hard to watch. I know it's all played for comedy, but making the two leads so weak and the Hollywood people so outrageously impenetrable just doesn't do the show any favors.

Also, the first episode was too light on Matt Le Blanc. Things got only interesting when he entered the scene.

Is it true that the first season only has 7 episodes?

Edited by Nosleepforme, Jan 8, 2011 @ 5:12 PM.

[Paul O Regan]

Is it true that the first season only has 7 episodes?

Yes (probably because it's a BBC co-production).

[maraleia]

The two British leads in this show did Green Wing together in the UK and were quite funny. I'm looking forward to this show based on that fact alone.

[noregrets]

Thank God this thing is finally starting. If I had to see that damn commercial one more time ("We got Matt LeBlanc!!"), I might have done something violent.

[SisterOfSylar]

More Articles And Reviews:

Paparazzi Journal, California Chronicle, The Examiner, Gather.com, Charlotte Observer (the review for Episodes is in the middle as it talks about others shows as well).

[ceindreadh]

Yes (probably because it's a BBC co-production).

Ah, that's probably why BBC is airing it so soon.
(Thursday on BBC2 at 10pm)

[kieyra]

Checking out the screener for the pilot. It's really surreal seeing Guy and Caroline from Green Wing together again in a different context, and they also have the actress who played Emmy (Mac's girlfriend from GW season 1).

It's actually causing me some weirdness having watched Green Wing so many times. They're still "Guy" and "Caroline" to me, and it's not meshing that great with what I assume is supposed to be dry, insider Hollywood humor. I'll be curious to know what people who aren't familiar with these actors will think. I feel like something's missing. But I've never had that much patience with the showbiz meta stuff, and they're hitting very predictable notes with it.

[SisterOfSylar]

I believe the show premiered tonight yes? I have a friend that plans on recording the eps so I can watch them.

Anyone else see it?

[sedeyus]

Not good. Everything's way too bland and I'll never understand Hollywood's fascination with ripping on itself.

[Wittgenstein]

The first half of the first episode was pretty awful, but it definitely improved when Mangan and Grieg (normally so good together) shared scenes with other actors.

The highlight (for me) was Daisy Haggard as Myra, head of comedy. She's virtually humorless (and so quite funny), although I could have done without the constantly contorted facial expressions.

Interestingly, the show - despite being set in LA - is actually filmed in the UK, and appears to be a UK-USA co production (which sort of undermines its premise).

Apparently the show gets better, and LeBlanc is supposed to be surprisingly good playing a version of himself.

[Moviesnob]

I thought it was pretty good, one of those awkward-is-funny shows.

I think it's funny that it premiered before Shameless, as that show is an American version of a British show, and Episodes is about trying to start up an American version of a British show.

[bparhad]

I didn't really know what to expect, but Entertainment Weekly gave the show a pretty good review, so I decided to check it out. It started out a little weak, but I'm looking forward to next week, because the parts with Matt LeBlanc look pretty funny.

I do have to say, I laughed pretty hard at the entire audition scene. I first laughed at "Hmm....he's a little too British, don't you think?" straight through the actor trying to do an American southern accent and everyone becoming so uncomfortable.

[The Solution]

Hopefully this show gets better because so far, we've finally found a post-Friends show that's even less funny than The Comeback.

[braggtastic]

I think Joey fit that bill quite nicely. I also think The Comeback's subtle comedy makes it one of the better post-Friends efforts.

[eelpout]

I mourn for the satire of Jay Mohr's "Action" series a decade or so back.

[Resuscitator]

I was really looking forward to this, but it wasnt particularly funny. I thought with the writers of Friends and the stars of Green Wing they couldn't go wrong, but oh boy, they did.
The audition scene was (to me) a bit cringe inducing, and if thats the sort of humour I have to look forward to I probably wont enjoy this much.
Shame.
Will see how the next episode goes..
On a shallow note, Matt Le Blanc is much hotter now.

[Chas411]

I thought it was ok... I read somewhere that it doesn't get good until the third episode or something.

[ganesh]

I don't really care that there is a Friends actor on the show because I never really liked Friends, so I hope there's not a ton of Friends related jokes. However, I don't mind actors sending themselves up a little bit like CYE.

I'm interested in this show if it's about how the UK makes tv versus the USA. I don't think UK shows translate well to the US and vice versa (I know there's exception to the rules). I guess it kind of is about it, but the scene with the husband and wife with Carol and the staff dragged too long and got flat. It doesn't have to be funny, but it was flat. I thought they were naive to think that some American tv guy is going to just hand over total control of a tv show just like that.

All the scenes alone with the husband and wife were pretty good; the actors play well off one another.

I guess my own hitch is that if this creative team (husband and wife on the show) not the people making Episodes, had an award winning UK show on tv for four years, they could probably make new successful shows. I know that they tried to address this by saying they would be rich and can do anything they want. But they seemed to be pretty happy with their show in the UK anyway. It's a thin premise. But it's not fair to judge a show just on a pilot; I'll probably watch more. And if it doesn't get good till the third episode, then it's not going to kill me to give it some time.

[Rational Plan]

I guess my own hitch is that if this creative team (husband and wife on the show) not the people making Episodes, had an award winning UK show on tv for four years, they could probably make new successful shows. I know that they tried to address this by saying they would be rich and can do anything they want. But they seemed to be pretty happy with their show in the UK anyway. It's a thin premise. But it's not fair to judge a show just on a pilot; I'll probably watch more. And if it doesn't get good till the third episode, then it's not going to kill me to give it some time.

Well the money is so much better. America's population is 5 times the size of the UK and a bit richer per head (and that disparity was even larger in the past), combined with the acceleration of wages at the top levels of each industry then a star can earn a fortune in the states. Plus Hollywood still has that Glamour pulsing from it, it is the big leagues. Sure they have a very nice house in good part of London probably pulling hundreds of thousands a year, but they are not truly rich.

Now it seems to be implied that own the show rather than the channel that broadcast it, which is more common these days. This is why you can be sometimes surprised by certain peoples wealth. Chris tarrant (Who wants to be a millionaire), Noel Edmunds (deal or no deal). Franchising formats has made some quite ordinary people in the industry into mega miilionaires. So if they take their critically acclaimed show to the states and make it a sucess well suddenly half a dozen countries could want to franchise it. That could be leveraged to a production company that develops into other shows etc.

Look at Ricky Gervais for example. A success in America also gets you more power and success back in the UK as the industry will need to compete for your time and they see you as access to international markets.

His wife, as can be seen is already happy with their existing success level. If they are getting Bafta's for their work they will always be on someones production list. a few more years of that and they'll be the insiders that commisioners will call on for new programmes and very comfortable life it would be. Rich by most peoples standards but not at the top and the money that exists there.

[Milburn Stone]

I thought the first episode was great. Brightly written, acted with nuance, involving and engaging, very intelligent and in spots genuinely guffaw-out-loud funny. My only regret is to learn there are only six more episodes. But I will be watching all of them. I hope enough other people are, too.