Episodes

Hopes were high for the first series of Episodes. Combining a writer and a star from Friends (David Crane and Matt LeBlanc) with Britain's finest (Tamsin Greig and Stephen Mangan) for a comedy about a writing duo whose sitcom is remade in Hollywood seemed like bankable comedy gold. Then the first episode aired and it wasn't even comedy silver or comedy bronze, more comedy pig-iron - a wobbly, ill-paced clunker.

But if you gave up, you gave up too soon. Halfway through, the series flipped. As it became less about fish-out-of-water jokes and more about sex, drugs, love triangles and car crashes, it came good. It became the clever, filthy, self-lacerating show we'd hoped for, even if the ratings didn't soar.

Thankfully, it's back. Four months after Matt (LeBlanc) so disastrously slept with Beverly (Greig), Pucks! (the show-within-the-show) is about to get its network premiere, but for its writers, all is not well.

The first series of this US TV industry satire starring Tamsin Greig, Matt LeBlanc and Stephen Mangan eventually found a groove after an awkward start, so it's good to see it back. By the end of this smartly scripted opener, the ratings are in for Sean and Beverly's Pucks!, the sitcom-within-a-sitcom that has LeBlanc gloriously miscast as an exaggerated version of himself. Good or bad, they won't help the rift caused by LeBlanc bedding Beverly last season.

As Episodes returns, we begin with a blast of shadow sitcom Pucks!. It's everything this mannered, tasteful show isn't - crass, clichéd, in thrall to a laughter track and utterly unconcerned by its own superfluity. Episodes has the opposite problem; it's stylish and smart, but too self-conscious to really zing. Still, Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig are excellent as Sean and Bev, the English scriptwriters struggling with Hollywood banality; living apart but working together, they are a study in frosty cordiality. Matt LeBlanc's 'Matt LeBlanc' remains a blithe, selfish, strangely likeable idiot version of himself. And - coming as the ultimate mixed blessing - the Pucks! ratings are good. So the exquisite torment of a career in mainstream US TV continues...

The first series ended with a fight involving Matt LeBlanc's self-titled cologne, a lampshade and the immortal line "He hit me with a cactus!" - tonight Episodes is back. Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig's marriage is on the rocks after the latter's indiscretions and John Pankow's morose TV exec Merc is still stealing scenes, but as ever it's Matt LeBlanc's odorously smug, well-endowed pastiche of himself that makes it. One of the best BBC comedies in ages.

We recommend: Episodes

Matt LeBlanc's performance, self-deprecating without being cartoonish, was a highlight, and he's still on good form. Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig are more comfortable in their parts, finally, and there's some fun with TV reviews that may or may not be a jab at the response to Episodes itself.

Tamsin Greig: Kissing LeBlanc was technical operation

Episodes star Tamsin Greig talks to Metro about canoodling with Matt LeBlanc, what inspired her to become an actor and the worst job she's ever had.

Playing yourself - a trend that's played out?

Matt LeBlanc's self-mocking role in Episodes is the latest in a line stretching back to Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm. But is the fad in danger of going stale?

Matt LeBlanc interview

"Honestly, I'm the laziest person I know... my favourite thing in the world is to do nothing. I don't like to work too hard."

Episodes review: Sit? Yes. Com? Erm...

Unfortunately the lampooning doesn't go far enough. I did smile when he said "Schwimmer's going to hate this!" after the show's high ratings were announced, but Matt LeBlanc doesn't have enough lines or isn't enough of a jerk to be really entertaining.

It was a slight surprise whenthis transatlantic sitcom was recommissioned for a second series. It had a clever enough concept. British screenwriters Sean and Beverly Lincoln (Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig) were excited to see their successful television show snapped up to be remade for an American audience. However, their Hollywood dream turned sour when their subtle comedy about a boarding school headmaster, Lyman's Boys, was turned into a brash sitcom about an ice hockey coach called Pucks!, a vehicle for former Friends star Matt LeBlanc (playing an exaggerated version of himself).

It was smartly written and beautifully played but not the broadest of subjects, perhaps too knowingly in-jokey, and duly saw its audience fall to just over one million. Still, critical acclaim and the calibre of its stars has seen Episodes return for another run. It's four months later and Bev's still separated from Sean after her fling with Matt. The two men's friendship also seems unsalvageable. However, when Pucks! gets its premiere on US TV, the tense trio must find a way of working together. With genuine laughs, bittersweet moments and two rather rude scenes, Episodes might now be hitting its stride.