Episodes

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).

Not many of the problems faced by the writers and producers of the show within this show ring particularly true. More credible and much better played is the storyline in which Matt LeBlanc tries to get one of his Friends friends to guest for the all-important sweeps week. Cue lots of scenes of LeBlanc doing one-sided phone conversations that reveal he's managed to insult and offend all his old co-stars.

Episodes series 2 episode 5 review

This week's Episodes fails to satisfy.

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.

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In this week's episode of the clever comedy Matt LeBlanc, playing a grotesque version of himself, has an amusing stalker (Sophie Rundle) to deal with. She's been following LeBlanc around since she was a cancer-stricken child who loved Friends, and now she's grown-up enough to track his movements via Facebook.

In an offering with a whiff of mid-season drift about it, the (mis)adventures of the team behind Pucks! continue. For Carol, this means being assertive and insisting that Merc marks the fifth anniversary of the couple's affair. A weekend away beckons, good news for Merc's wife Jamie as she and ]p]Matt LeBlanc] plan "48 hours of the dirty stuff". Elsewhere, Sean's Facebook ineptitude brings Matt's stalker, the improbably named Labia, back into the actor's orbit.

Episodes series 2 episode 4 review

Episodes is back on track with its fourth instalment of series 2.

Bad news at the network. "Look at these ratings!" wails studio executive Merc from his bathroom. "It's like 9/11! It's like watching the towers fall!" The trouble is, Episodes was a lot more fun when the sitcom its characters are making, Pucks!, was doing well. Now everyone's worried and/or angry, Sean and Beverley's relationship is on the rocks, and it's all more downbeat than you want in a Friday-night comedy. And when it stops being gloomy it turns schmaltzy. On the plus side, there's another scene where Matt LeBlanc has to act drunk (he's good at that), while his English friends try to talk him out of doing anything that might get their show cancelled.