Episodes

Dragons! Goblins! Lizard men! Ogres! Harpies! Mermen! Succubi! Just some of the suggestions tossed desperately around a TV network brainstorming session when LA studio boss Merc casts around for ideas. It's a lovely scene that, like so much of the Hollywood material in Episodes, has just enough plausibility, not least because you can imagine that the show's writers - including David Crane of Friends - have been around the studio block enough times to have seen this sort of scattershot creativity with their own eyes.

Meanwhile, on the romantic side of the comedy, our separated writers try to cope with the fact that one of them is now dating, allowing Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan to squirm with awkwardness as only they know how.

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).

Episodes series 2 episode 7 review

Matt LeBlanc's weight-gain is the focus in this week's Episodes, which delivers another strong instalment...

The stars who appeared as versions of themselves in Ricky Gervais's Extras and Life Is Short were prepared to collaborate in a certain amount of self-mockery, but nothing on a par with this. Matt LeBlanc's caricature takes another humiliating turn as the (fictional) network start to complain that their (fictional) star is putting on weight.

It's a nice take on the real pressures for TV stars, but it also allows for enjoyably awkward confrontations, not least with the only person who is there to reassure him - his blind girlfriend.

Episodes, BBC Two, review

The one-liners were up to the usual high standard.

Another meeting where Bev and Sean think their show is going to be axed turns out to be about something else entirely. The problem they are faced with is one of the more realistic Episodes has dealt with, as Matt LeBlanc's decreased screen time on Pucks! has given him the chance to stuff his face and pile on the pounds. In the more soapy part of the show, Bev goes on a date with Morning's brother Rob (James Purefoy), an apparently normal LA resident, something the show has in very short supply.

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."

How Episodes inadvertently went viral in Israel

The programme has become infamous after its makers mistranslated a gravestone inscription - with disastrous results.

Episodes series 2 episode 6 review

Episodes delivers a great episode in what has so far been an uneven series.

It has been said that acting out one side of a telephone conversation is one of the toughest tests for an actor. On that basis, Matt LeBlanc gives something of a masterclass tonight as his character is forced to make a series of humiliating phone calls to his former co-stars on Friends: studio boss Merc wants Matt to rope one of them in for a guest appearance on Pucks! But before all that he has a surprise encounter with his stalker, who turns up in his kitchen unannounced, and topless.