Stephen Mangan

[Episodes] is a frustrating comedy, three-quarters of the way to being very funny, but getting there only sporadically.

Actually, I think my review of the opening episode still holds up: the problem lies with our very own Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan, whose banter - as very English husband-and-wife scriptwriters relocated to Hollywood - never quite convinces, probably because it was written by Americans. Which makes Episodes a case of life imitating art imitating life, or maybe the other way round. Whatever, I hate to seem in thrall to the big starry name, but it's Matt LeBlanc playing a revved-up version of himself who makes the thing worth watching, and who gets all the best lines. Catchphrases are cheesy, said Sean (Mangan) last night. "Really," said LeBlanc. "Tell that to my house in Malibu."

Four episodes in and it still feels unformed. Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig act their comedy socks off - and their comedy socks, as we know, are from the very top sock drawer - but the script has a way of leaving them stranded. However much we warm to their characters - a writing duo whose sitcom is being remade in LA with Matt LeBlanc - there's the sense of the comedy never catching fire, the pace never clicking, plots not gelling into anything more than a bunch of scenes with the odd funny line. Tonight, LeBlanc gets drunk in a remote bar and our heroes have to drive out and pick him up, with jokes about sat navs and C-words along the way.

Celebrities come together in Comic Relief kazoo band

Celebrities including Miranda Hart, Jenny Eclair and Stephen Mangan will be forming a special kazoo band as part of Radio 3's Big Red Nose Show.

Four episodes in and this sitcom continues to polarise opinion: some critics think it's subtle and rewarding; others have argued that it lacks zest. In tonight's instalment, Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan's characters - a writing duo whose British sitcom is being remade in LA - are forced to travel to a remote bar to pick up a drunk Matt LeBlanc, who's the star of their show. Be warned: the language is very rude.

Never having pondered the subject of Matt LeBlanc and his girth, this week's Episodes (BBC2) proved a scary beast as Sean (Stephen Mangan) and the man who will always be Joey in Friends entered into a full-blown bromance. Well, not quite full blown but it's heading that way.

'It could invade a small country,' was Sean's report on the Joey manhood. He was telling this to his wife, which was a bit of a turn-up.

For what started out as a bash the Yanks satire is morphing into an oddball love triangle, Sean seduced by the big man his wife despises.

Does that mean it's taken its eye off the ball? Who knows but it will be fun seeing how it turns out.

Three episodes in, and this comedy about how American studios set about adapting British TV series isn't getting any better. Matt LeBlanc is actually rather charming as an exaggerated version of himself, although unlike Steve Coogan in The Trip or the brilliantly excruciating guest cameos in Extras, he hasn't been asked to venture very near the knuckle when sending himself up. However, the main problem is that Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig, who play the two British scriptwriters out of their depth in Hollywood, are just plain annoying. All their jokes at the expense of the vain, insincere Americans fall flat because their smug reserve is equally unlikeable. Tonight, LeBlanc and Sean (Mangan) try to bond in Las Vegas.

Episodes episode 2 review

Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig's comedy series really hits its stride in episode two. Here's Ryan's review...

In Episodes, the gap between Britain and America is explored from the perspective of married TV comedy writers Beverly and Sean (Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan), whose hit show is taken up by a US network and Americanised beyond all recognition. After last week's opener I aired some reservations about the rhythms of the comedic banter, but hoped that it would get better when Matt LeBlanc (playing a souped-up version of himself) joined in the fun, and last night, with several very good gags both verbal and visual, it did.

Episodes episode 2 review

Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig's comedy series really hits its stride in episode two.

The second episode of the US/UK development-hell sitcom in which Matt LeBlanc is cast as the star against show creators Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan's will. This time the two Brits meet LeBlanc at a dinner party at the home of their obnoxiously equivocating network boss Merc, managing to offend their new star, as he tries to convince them of his ability to un-Joey himself.