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Episodes: Reviews

Good reviews in the US for Matt LeBlanc's new comedy -although critics note his co-stars are the real find.

There are good reviews in the US for Episodes, Matt LeBlanc’s new cable comedy -although most of the critics note that his co-stars are the real find of the piece.

Still, it’s good news for Nine which will air the show this year.

Hollywood Reporter
:
Mangan and Greig are exceptionally good as the fish-out-of-water Brits, horrified that their show is getting rejiggered. Mangan’s Sean is seduced by Hollywood, and Greig’s Beverly is repulsed and appalled at the cluelessness. When the network hires LeBlanc to play the lead, Episodes takes off to all kinds of unexpected places — with LeBlanc getting a glorious showcase — and the show avoids any potential trouble spots. In fairness, not every network would take a British series called Lyman’s Boys, about a headmaster at an elite boys boarding school, and change it to Pucks! about a hockey coach at said school. But then again, one or two would. And that’s all the truth Episodes needs to tap into.

LA Times:
They are all swimming upstream more often than not but they’re very good swimmers. It’s difficult for Hollywood to dissect Hollywood, which is why we have so many shows and films about cops and lawyers. Certainly it’s always dangerous to let writers write about writers — was there ever a less-appreciated, more put-upon group of humans not in actual captivity? “Episodes” is not above lazily wallowing in the worried-smooth security blanket of Hollywood stereotypes. It is a bit rich to see the Lincolns as naifs, just as if backstage adultery, actorly ego and creative backstabbing weren’t, you know, invented in Great Britain — along with reality and other crap television, but 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.

HollywoodChicago.com:
Though “Episodes” earns points for tweaking both countries’ quirks, it’s clear that the British approach to television comedy is superior, particularly in modern times. When LeBlanc justifies the creative changes made to the Lincolns’ show by pointing out that American shows run for hundreds of episodes rather than a handful, he’s echoing the philosophy behind the American version of “The Office.” Yet at least the British shows know when to quit. Gervais’ “Office” is a classic because it fused each of its 12 episodes (and two-part season finale) with equal amounts of comic genius, while the U.S. remake continues to steadily run out of steam. Here’s hoping “Episodes” won’t stretch its premise further than it’s meant to go. As it stands, it’s one of the funniest shows on television. Don’t miss it.

USA Today:
Greig and Mangan are delightful imports, but the big laughs and the lion’s share of the credit go to LeBlanc. Agreeing to play a mangled version of himself was not as brave a choice as you might think: While the LeBlanc shown here is hideously star-spoiled, he’s also funny, likable, well-endowed (an amusing running gag) and, more often than not, right. But it was a very smart one. Much like his show, which is easily the best new sitcom of the season. Take that, Joey, and rest in peace.

Huffington Post:
As good as LeBlanc is in this show he is outshown by Mangan and Greig. These two performers look like younger British versions of Elliot Gould and Paula Prentiss. They have amazingly sharp comic timing and elevate the solid scripts to higher levels. When they share scenes with LeBlanc they make him better than he has ever been in the past. Being on Showtime there is a good bit of profanity and crude humor in the show, sometimes unnecessarily so, but it is what we have come to expect from cable. There are also stretches where the cumulative effect of the storyline is better than the individual scenes. For example a fairly dull dinner party at Merc’s house leads to a bonding scene between Sean and Matt, which makes the preceding chatter worth the effort.

SF Gate:
Mangan and Greig are especially good, except that you don’t entirely believe them as a married couple. And because the overall point of the series is that the Lincolns are becoming the very things they purport to despise – Hollywood types – they become unlikable by the final shows of the seven-episode arc, which, in the satirical structure of “Episodes,” is actually a good thing. John Pankow is properly repugnant as Merc, and, of course, inevitably reminds us of “Entourage’s” Ari Gold, but without either the comic shamelessness of the HBO character or Jeremy Piven’s superior acting skills. LeBlanc is also terrific, skillfully nudging Joey’s how-YOU-doon? cluelessness toward comically Hollywoodized amorality. The most fully realized character and, not coincidentally, the best performance in “Episodes,” is Kathleen Rose Perkins’ Carol Rance, Merc’s chief assistant who also happens to be sleeping with him. He would marry her in an instant, she believes, if only his wife, Jamie (Genevieve O’Reilly), hadn’t gone blind – a condition that enables Merc to make faces without her knowing it while she’s speaking. Cruel as that situation may sound, it’s one of the comic high points of “Episodes” because it’s so unexpected and so unabashedly childish as only British sitcoms dare to be.

Variety:
Writers are often advised to “write what you know.” But problems can arise when that knowledge overlaps heavily with what everyone else knows — and more importantly, has already seen. Birthed by “Friends” co-creator David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik (who, British-style, wrote every installment), “Episodes” is a retread of every imaginable Hollywood cliche, including Matt LeBlanc’s self-deprecating turn portraying himself as a charming sociopath. By that measure, this Showtime-BBC co-venture isn’t so much bad, necessarily, as simply redundant.

12 Responses

  1. Watched it and Loved it! Very witty! Matt barely appears in the first episode, however his co-stars are great. Like it’s been said, Nine won’t treat this very well. It’ll be gone after 2 weeks for 2.5 Men.

  2. It wouldn’t be too hard for Matt Le Blanc’s co-stars to upstage him – he’s a terrible actor. His last show Joey was awful.

    I still haven’t forgotten his embarrassing appearance at the Logies during the mid 90’s. “Australian TV Rocks” was his much derided comment – much to the jeers of the audience.

    This is one show I won’t be looking out for !!

  3. I have no idea how considering only the first episdoe has aired but i’ve watched the first 2 episodes and loved it. Great idea for a show, and works brilliantly. And stuff watching it on Nine. They’d put it on at a late timeslot or switch timeslots after 2 weeks. Prob not right for Nine anyway. Should be on ABC.

  4. Nine should encore this on GEM a day or two after Nine’s airing.

    if it doesn’t rate on Nine, then continue with new eps on GEM. same goes for Matthew Perry’s show.

    they could both be paired with Friends one night of the week.

  5. I can’t believe that none of these reviews mention the completely humourless Head Of Comedy at the network, played by Daisy Haggard. She is easily the funniest thing in a very funny show.

  6. Argh! – I keep getting excited about this and looking forward to it and then I’m reminded that it’s going to be on Channel Dartboard. @Steveany – I’d say you’re right except about the replacement show. It’ll prob be something like “Embarrassing Bodies” or “Boils of Britain”.

  7. God this depresses me!
    The show is evidently witty, well written and quirky, so that means Nine will run two episodes at 9.30 then move it to 10.30 for two episodes then bump it for 2.5 men reruns.
    You know I’m right.

  8. Sounds good but I’m not holding my breath that Nine will air this any time soon, or worst still they will air 2 eps before replacing it with 2.5 men re-runs and shifting it to GO! or GEM later in the just… I just have a feeling.

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