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- SHOWTIME
- Jan 9, 2011
- SHOWTIME
- Jan 9, 2011
Summary Friends favorite Matt LeBlanc teams up with David Crane of the Friends fame and Jeffrey Klarik of Mad About You to serve up a single-camera comedy about a the television business. The Showtime project will focus on the funny process of reworking a hit British show for American audiences.
Created By: David Crane, Jeffrey Klarik
- SHOWTIME
- Jan 9, 2011
- SHOWTIME
- Jan 9, 2011
Summary Friends favorite Matt LeBlanc teams up with David Crane of the Friends fame and Jeffrey Klarik of Mad About You to serve up a single-camera comedy about a the television business. The Showtime project will focus on the funny process of reworking a hit British show for American audiences.
Created By: David Crane, Jeffrey Klarik
Where to Watch
Season Episodes
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5 Seasons
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 26 Critic Reviews
74
77% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
23% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 26 Critic Reviews
74
77% Positive
20 Reviews
20 Reviews
23% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
LeBlanc is brilliant; the writing and direction are brilliant; the show is brilliant.
[A] very amusing and splendidly acted comedy about what happens when an American television network mucks up a long-running, award-laden British hit.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 126 User Ratings
7.6
79% Positive
100 Ratings
100 Ratings
15% Mixed
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
6% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 126 User Ratings
7.6
79% Positive
100 Ratings
100 Ratings
15% Mixed
19 Ratings
19 Ratings
6% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
Absolutely delightful! I have never watched a single episode of 'Friends' ( not my kind of comedy) so I didn't know anything about Matt LeBlanc. He is outstanding in the role of the boorish American actor with the boyish charm, as are the two unassuming Brits who end up being simultaneously appalled and impressed.
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SEASON 1
If you find the premiere poky, stick with it: Episodes gets funnier with each succeeding episode, and the acting is superb. Yes: Matt LeBlanc = superb.
This seven-episode series, written by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, doesn't offer many new ideas about the evils of the TV business--a lot of the ground covered here was previously mined by the underrated 1999-2001 Showtime series "Beggars & Choosers"--but it's still fun to join in the mocking of Hollywood, a big, juicy target that Episodes hits with ease.
Even when it's irritating, Episodes is funny. And if, at times, it intentionally or unintentionally pokes fun at itself as much as anything else well, that works too.
A joint effort between Showtime and the BBC, it features British humor and American humor. These don't always play nice together, and Episodes appears unsure of how to make them merge or which to privilege.
Episodes isn't even as funny as Crane and Klarik's last collaboration, the exceedingly mediocre short-lived CBS comedy "The Class" - and that's even considering that the new show features Crane's old "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc delivering a terrific performance as an exaggerated version of himself.
Classic fish-out-of-water setup -- smartass Brits stuck in a Hollywood where they find the values of the natives fascinating and appalling. What they don't quite realize is how much they're being corrupted as they make cracks about the corruption. What keeps it from being off-putting is the touching portrait of a marriage of genuine friends. (Ironic since it is an alum of FRIENDS who most threatens it.) One of the best comedy shows to be produced for Showtime.
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SEASON 1
Because of my love for Friends I gave Episodes a shot (watched 5 of the 7 episodes so far) but honestly the series is highly disappointing. Any connection to Friends (where both one of the creators and obviously LeBlanc are from) is coincidental at best. The series is not funny, some of the actors don't fit their characters' outline and there are far too much swearing and vulgarity for my personal taste.
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SEASON 1
For me the best British comedies of the last decade are 'The Office' and 'Peep Show' and this, despite using the same sort of awkward humour is simply not as funny. Knowing that comedies can often take a number of episodes to get going I decided to stick with the show after a slow start and did begin to enjoy 'Episodes'.
Episodes is certainly not a show for the kids with very strong language and (tame) sexual scenes throughout but the three leads, Matt Le Blanc, Tasmin Greig and Stephen Mangan are all talented comedic actors and certainly have good on screen chemistry. Many of the supporting cast though can often just come across, for me at least, as annoying rather than funny.
Hopefully the second series of 'Episodes' can continue on from the better episodes towards the end of this first season and I for one will be giving it a second chance.
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SEASON 1
After two episodes, this show seems to be about filling whole half-hour slots with awkwardness, frustration and callous indifference. Supposedly it's a comedy, but I don't know when that's supposed to kick in... not so much as a smirk yet. Unless your idea of comedy is watching people get frustrated by being brushed off by bigger systems than them as everything that can possibly go wrong does, I'd recommend you avoid it.
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SEASON 1
