Episodes Matt Leblanc Cast
Zee Palmer
Episodes is a television sitcom created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik and produced by Hat Trick Productions.[1] It premiered on Showtime in the United States on January 9, 2011[2] and on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on January 10, 2011.[1] The show is about a British husband-and-wife comedy writing team who travel to Hollywood to remake their successful British TV series, with unexpected results. It stars Matt LeBlanc portraying a satirical version of himself. LeBlanc made his regular return to television for the first time since he was on NBC's Joey.
On June 10, 2015, it was announced that Showtime had renewed Episodes for a fifth season, which was due to begin filming in London in 2016.[3] On April 11, 2016, Season 5 was confirmed to be the show's last; it consists of seven episodes and premiered on August 20, 2017. The series finale, Season 5's "Episode Seven", aired on October 8, 2017.[4]
After married couple Sean (Stephen Mangan) and Beverly (Tamsin Greig) Lincoln win yet another BAFTA Award for their successful British sitcom, Lyman's Boys, they are persuaded to move to Hollywood and remake their series for an American audience. Unfortunately, the network starts to make changes (including the title, now Pucks!), and pressures the couple into casting Matt LeBlanc in the lead role, a part that Matt is largely unsuited for.
Sean becomes friends with Matt, while Beverly is less impressed. Continuing changes to the scripts threaten to damage the show and other pressures result in difficulties in Sean and Beverly's marriage.[1]
Beverly was originally to be portrayed by Claire Forlani, but she left the cast in April 2010 when the series was in pre-production.[9] LeBlanc was to play a "larger than life version of himself" as character Matt LeBlanc.[8] Thomas Haden Church was also to have a role in the series as Merc Lapidus, the American television executive who commissions the remake, but he left due to scheduling conflicts,[9] and was replaced by John Pankow.
The response of American critics was positive.[13] Robert Bianco of USA Today called the show "easily the best new sitcom of the season"[14] and The Boston Globe's Matthew Gilbert said that "Each of the season's seven half-hours is a little sliver of pleasure."[15] A Boston Herald review by Mark A. Perigard was lukewarm; he said he feared that the show would never achieve a broad audience,[16] and David Wiegand from the San Francisco Chronicle praised the performances of the actors but felt that the series simply was not funny.[17] Alan Sepinwall of HitFix went further declaring the show to be one of the worst TV moments of 2011.[18] The UK critics' response to the first episode was broadly lukewarm while remaining optimistic.[19][20] More screentime for Matt LeBlanc was eagerly anticipated by some,[21] with The Independent's Brian Viner believing that this might improve the series.[22]
The second season received positive reviews from critics.[23][24] Henry Goldblatt of Entertainment Weekly called the second season "a terrific second season of this industry-set sitcom."[25] USA Today said of the show: "As smartly written as it is played, Episodes offers the comic pleasures, not just of clashing cultures, but of contrasting comic styles. On one side you have LeBlanc, who handles the big laughs and the broader humor, and does it so well, it serves as a reminder that he was under-appreciated during his years on Friends." Ed Bark of Uncle Barky praised the season saying it was "a thoroughly entertaining romp, with the television industry as a combination Tilt-A-Whirl/merry-go-round."[26][27] On the Firewall & Iceberg podcast Alan Sepinwall and Dan Fienberg commented on the second season, saying that the "self-congratulatory, obvious" show that is "oddly tone-deaf about the business that it was trying to satirize" is "not about anything" and "as a result is better for it," but is still "groaningly unfunny".[28]
The series premiered in Australia on Nine on July 3, 2012,[37] with season two returning on September 4, 2012.[38] The first two seasons were replayed by subscription television network BBC UKTV (as opposed to Nine which is a free-to-air network), premiering January 28, 2014.[39][40] Unlike the first two seasons which premiered in Australia on Nine, season three premiered on pay TV. Although originally set to air on BBC UKTV,[41] the series premiered on BBC First on September 12, 2014,[42] and returned for season four on September 7, 2015.[43] On November 14, 2016, it was reported that the fifth and final season would have its premiere on streaming provider Stan in 2017. This move is believed to be the result of BBC no longer being a co-producer of the series and that Stan has an output agreement with Showtime.[44]
If you ever find yourself in a position to have Matt LeBlanc recite his favorite lines or completely re-enact classic scenes from "Friends," I highly recommend you take advantage. I found it hard to believe that he could even rattle off lines from this season of "Episodes" (Season 2 premieres Sun., July 1, 10:30 p.m. ET on Showtime), let alone spout dialogue from almost a decade ago ... but that he did.
I caught up with LeBlanc, who plays Matt LeBlanc, a fictionalized version of himself in Showtime's series about the making of another series called "Pucks." Last season's cliffhanger finale -- which involved the fictional LeBlanc bedding one-half of a married couple (played by the hilarious Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan), who are in fact his new TV bosses -- was messy, to say the least.
Season 2 finds him still in the thick of that "super awkward dynamic," with some interesting new distractions, including a very memorable hand job scene, a stalker and a side of famous actors we don't often see: rejection. Keep reading for more on where "Episodes" is heading next ("Someone from 'Friends' is on," LeBlanc teases) and to see which scene from "Friends" -- a show he still remembers as "an ego-free, great environment" -- I had the pleasure of re-living.
"Episodes" seems to have really found its footing. Season 1 ended strong, and this continues that momentum.
When you're a new show, you have a lot of exposition to deal with, and I think we've sort of gotten all of that out of the way. The people that are watching kind of know where the characters are and what the story is and the world that they live in, so with two more episodes in the second season -- nine versus seven [in Season 1] -- it gives us a little more room. And also with the lightened load of exposition, I think it gives us more room to develop characters, and for the support cast, there's a lot more to do. It's opened up the world a little more.
Last season's finale was incredibly messy -- what can you tease about where things pick back up?
Right? So at the outset, there's this super awkward dynamic that we're all trying to navigate, and we have this common goal to get this show running and make this television show that's ... it's just a disaster.
But I think even "Matt LeBlanc," as clueless as they've made him, realizes that it's not a great show.
Right. You know what's interesting about it, too? The way the writers have sort of crafted the "Pucks" character, that's the kind of character that the networks have tried to get me to come back and play. The network in the show has tried to get the Matt LeBlanc in the show to sort of play something that's close to Joey, which I think is an interesting spin. So the Matt LeBlanc within the show that is the actor that plays the character on "Pucks" -- if you can follow me -- is sort of reaping the rewards of having played that character on "Friends."
There was a great line from John Pankow, who plays the network head Merc, like "Oh, it's your first show since 'Friends'!" People seem to forget the other stuff.
[Laughs.] And Matt's like, "Okay ..."
When I watch this show, and especially now seeing more of what "Pucks" is this season, I do imagine that that's the kind of role people wanted you for before you got "Episodes."
Yeah, there's some of that, but it doesn't seem to be as blatant as what we've scripted in the show. I think that character on "Friends" is gonna follow me around forever and that's fine. That's a sign of being part of something that was that popular, I guess.
There's another great line in the third episode where Matt says something to Morning (Mircea Monroe) about her level of fame ...
Oh yeah, that was a great line -- on the way to the funeral. "Kind of playing fast and loose with the word 'famous.'" [Laughs.]
[Laughs.] How do you remember all of this? Didn't you shoot this months ago?
I was in London from mid-October until February. But, I mean, if it's great, huge, super lines like that, they tend to stand out, you know?
Like getting a handjob in a screening of "Pucks," then proclaiming that getting jerked off while you're watching yourself on TV is the kind of thing actors work their whole lives for?
Yeah, that's the clip we used on "The Tonight Show" the other night, and I couldn't believe that they let that clip go on. Jay [Leno] loves the show -- he really went above and beyond plugging the show. I was shocked at how big a fan ... he watched them all in one sitting, he said. That's what I did when I got them -- I watched them all at once.
You watch yourself?
I watch everything once. I don't, like, sit and watch it over and over and over again, like Gabe Kaplan, I heard, used to do. I heard he used to just watch "Welcome Back, Kotter" reruns like on a loop in his house. It was just always on.
That's maybe the most depressing story I've ever heard.
[Laughs.] Kind of sad, yeah. I mean, I watch everything I do to see how it came out. And, you know, "Friends" is on so often that if I'm channel surfing, I'll see which one it was, and if it was one of my favorite ones, I might watch it.