Tamsin Greig

The penultimate episode of this sparkling comedy about two scriptwriters navigating the moron-infested waters of Hollywood. The day doesn't get off to a good start for Matt LeBlanc (playing an exaggerated version of himself) when he wakes up in bed with his stalker Labia (Sophie Rundle). But it's nothing compared to the awkwardness felt between Sean (Stephen Mangan) and Beverly (Tamsin Greig) in the wake of Beverly's date with Rob (James Purefoy).

In a nice reversal of standard Hollywood sexism, tonight's slice of this enjoyable, postmodern sitcom, sees leading-man Matt (Matt LeBlanc) under pressure for piling on the pounds. The network bosses want writers Beverly (Tamsin Greig) and Sean (Stephen Mangan) to have a quiet word ("we need hot Matt, not fat Matt"). Matt takes it predictably poorly. Beverly meanwhile has issues of her own. She's off on her first date in a decade and needs some reassurance. Carol (Kathleen Rose Perkins) steps in. "They're going to give you alcohol. They're going to give you food. In two hours you're done. It's like a flight to Omaha."

This satire on Stateside television studio politics may be only sporadically funny, but it's buoyed up by a lovely turn from Matt LeBlanc, who sends up his big-shot persona in style. In tonight's episode, LeBlanc struggles to persuade his former Friends colleagues to cameo on his faltering new show Pucks! ("Look Courteney, I understand - if you can't do it, you can't do it... but can you give me Jen's number?"). Meanwhile, Morning (Mircea Monroe) tries to set up Beverly (Tamsin Greig) with her raffish younger brother (James Purefoy).

When it's on song Episodes touches the parts other sitcoms don't reach. The comedy of Californian manners can be taboo-trashingly funny, as it is tonight when a chain of farcical cause-and-effect plays havoc with the adulterous adventures of Merc and Matt. There are a couple of yawningly tasteless subplots for good measure, one involving Matt's young stalker (whose name is Labia) and the other involving a cosmetic-surgery malfunction for his blonde co-star. Yes, the scenes where Carol moans to Beverly (Tamsin Greig) about her directionless affair have become a bit of a drag, but you can't have everything.

Tamsin Greig welcomes in the summer

ES asks London's summer stars where they go to cool off.

Pucks! takes a time out tonight when news breaks that Merc's father has died, furnishing the writers of Episodes with all the tragicomic potential of a funeral. As with so much of this series, it's a qualified success, as a procession of competitive mourning techniques (muffin basket? charity donation?) open up further faultlines in Sean and Bev's moribund relationship. Stephen Mangan, Tamsin Greig and Matt LeBlanc are now displaying the sort of relaxed chemistry that only comes with time, and the latter struts off with most of the best lines (the less politically correct, the better). But the attempts at pathos fall flat - these characters haven't done enough to earn our sympathy yet. And why sideline Daisy Haggard, whose formidable arsenal of disgusted expressions was such a pleasure in Series 1?

Blessed with a rich basic idea, Episodes (BBC Two) forges on. The basic idea is that the Americans are copying a British hit comedy show and, of course, changing everything. The British writers, played by Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan, are on the spot in LA to help with the task of butchering their own creation. Matt LeBlanc, always the funniest of the men in Friends, plays the randy American star. There is nothing and nobody I have so far mentioned that I can't laugh at, not even Stephen Mangan, who, after Dirk Gently, had moved, I thought, irretrievably into the category of Not Funny. The trick with Episodes is that it satirises the Yanks while accurately borrowing all their best precision. Television about television is hard to do. Aaron Sorkin's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was a sprawling mess compared to Episodes. There is an advantage to keeping the premise simple.

The satire isn't always subtle, but there's still much to enjoy in this British-led LA-based sitcom. It's the Americans who provide most of the laughs. Tonight, network head Merc Lapidus's (John Pankow) father dies, prompting a flurry of competitive condolence gifts ("a turkey the size of a Prius") that leave Brits Beverly (Tamsin Greig) and Sean (Stephen Mangan) utterly bewildered. Matt (Matt LeBlanc), meanwhile, is nervous about attending the funeral. He's having an affair with Merc's blind wife ("it's good, you don't have to suck in your gut").

Video - Tamsin Greig: 'Matt LeBlanc gets even darker'

Tamsin Greig has promised that series two of Episodes will become an even "darker" comedy.

There are some good gags in tonight's episode of this smart sitcom about the travails of a British husband and wife comedy-writing team working in Los Angeles. As ever, the smooth-talking Matt LeBlanc delivers most of them. Tonight, he attempts to buy back Sean's (Stephen Mangan) affections with a new sports car and a wisecrack that cannot be reproduced in the pages of a family newspaper. Sean, doing his best to summon a stiff upper lip, refuses the car, only to discover that Bev (Tamsin Greig) has an automotive surprise of her own.