Episodes is a television sitcom created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik and produced by Hat Trick Productions. It premiered on Showtime in the United States on 9 January 2011 and on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on 10 January 2011. The show is about a British husband-and-wife comedy writing team who travel to Hollywood to remake their successful British TV series, with unexpected results. It stars Matt LeBlanc portraying a satirical version of himself. LeBlanc made his regular return to television for the first time since he was on NBC's Joey.
On 10 June 2015, it was announced that Showtime had renewed Episodes for a fifth season, which was due to begin filming in London in 2016. On 11 April 2016, the fifth season was confirmed to be the series' last; it consists of seven episodes and premiered on 20 August 2017. The series finale, "Episode Seven", aired on 8 October 2017.
Episodes has received positive reviews from critics, with specific praise being given to the performances of stars Stephen Mangan, Tamsin Greig, and LeBlanc. For his performance in the series, LeBlanc won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy and has been nominated for four Primetime Emmy Awards.
Contents
Episodes
Sean (Stephen Mangan) and Beverly (Tamsin Greig) Lincoln win yet another BAFTA Award for their successful British sitcom, Lyman's Boys. Network president Merc Lapidus (John Pankow) and his second-in-command/paramour Carol Rance (Kathleen Rose Perkins) convince the couple to move to Los Angeles to remake their series for an American audience. The network immediately pressures the Lincolns into casting Matt LeBlanc for the lead role; Matt charms the Lincolns but they still insist he's wrong for the part. The network also changes the premise of the show to an unrecognizable degree, going from a sophisticated comedy about a headmaster at a boarding school to a slapstick comedy about a hockey coach called Pucks!. Hollywood veteran Morning Randolph (Mircea Monroe) is also cast in a main role.
During production of the pilot, Sean becomes good friends with Matt. However, tensions flare between Matt and Beverly when he suggests that Morning's character be straight rather than a lesbian—a move Sean ultimately supports in order for the story to have room to grow. Beverly begins suspecting that Sean has feelings for Morning although he denies this. During a gala, Matt tries to set Sean up with Morning but this ultimately fails. Beverly catches Sean masturbating to Morning's sex tape and becomes incensed when she misinterprets a hug between him and Morning. Beverly begins packing to go home and leaves Sean but accidentally gets into a car accident, smashing into Matt's car. After recuperating at his house, Matt and Beverly have sex. Afterwards, Matt reveals that nothing ever happened between Sean and Morning. Horrified, Beverly returns home to Sean and apologizes for freaking out. Production on the Pucks! pilot ends and Sean and Beverly prepare to return home to London. At Matt's house, Sean finds out about his sex with Beverly and the two fight. Sean tells Beverly that he's going to divorce her when they return home. However, test audiences loved Pucks! and a full season has been ordered.
Months later, Sean and Beverly are still working together on the show, with their relationship remaining purely professional. Matt and Sean are able to work through their differences. Meanwhile, Pucks! premieres and is panned by critics, but the first episode earns strong ratings. During the airing of the episode, Matt receives a handjob from Merc's blind wife Jamie (Genevieve O'Reilly) and begins an affair with her. The ratings for Pucks! decline sharply after its second episode. Citing audience surveys, the network suggests that Sean and Beverly rework the scripts to focus less on Matt and more on his teenage co-stars. Matt is furious and threatens to quit but relents when Beverly tells him that the show is the only thing giving her a chance at reuniting with Sean. When Sean insists that he has no interest in doing so, Beverly begins dating Morning's brother Rob (James Purefoy). Meanwhile, Carol is told by network chairman Elliot Salad (Michael Brandon) that Merc will soon be fired. Carol wants to preserve her romantic relationship with Merc so she tells him that his blind wife is having an affair with Matt, leading to fisticuffs between the two men. Afterward, Carol tells Merc that he's out of his job. She breaks up with him after he tells her he can't leave his wife now. Beverly, who was injured in the fight, shares a moment with Sean and the two finally reunite.
Cast and characters
Main
Matt LeBlanc as a fictionalized version of himself. Matt is a wealthy, charming, but arrogant actor, who was persuaded by the high salary to take the starring role of Coach Lyman in Pucks. He has a short attention span and need for immediate gratification. He has two sons, who spend most of their time with their mother Diane (Fiona Glascott), with whom Matt has an antagonistic yet ultimately protective relationship.
Stephen Mangan as Sean Lincoln – co-creator of Pucks. Sean moves from London to Hollywood with his wife and co-creator Beverly to adapt their award-winning show Lyman's Boys for American audiences. Sean initially adapts to Hollywood better than Beverly, finding it easier to bond with Matt on some level than she does. Although he grows to loathe Hollywood and professes to want to return home, Sean stays because the paychecks are much bigger.
Tamsin Greig as Beverly Lincoln – co-creator of Pucks. When Beverly and Sean move to Hollywood, she is quickly overwhelmed by the new lifestyle. Unlike Sean, Beverly struggles to adjust to life in Los Angeles, and the only person she feels close to is network executive Carol Rance (Kathleen Rose Perkins), with whom she often goes hiking in Griffith Park and smokes pot.
John Pankow as Merc Lapidus – the president of the network. He purchases the American rights to Lyman's Boys without watching it, based on the acclaim it has received, but immediately insists on major changes which ultimately have a significant impact on the quality of the show. He is boorish and arrogant, lies to everybody to avoid responsibility and has a very short attention span. He is cheating on his blind wife with his network subordinate, Carol.
Kathleen Rose Perkins as Carol Rance – the network's head of programming. She is Merc's second-in-command. Carol is very good at her job, but she often undermines herself professionally because she has a fetish for people who have authority over her, leading her to engage in a series of affairs with her bosses. She becomes good friends with Beverly.
Mircea Monroe as Morning Randolph – the leading actress employed by the network to play librarian Nicola McCutcheon opposite Matt's character on Pucks. A running gag throughout the show is that Morning's age, while never explicitly revealed, is significantly older than her appearance suggests. She has frequent plastic surgery to maintain the appearance of youth which she feels Hollywood insists on from actresses. Morning perceives herself as a household name equal to Matt because she was "Kelly" on the show Kelly Girl many years before. She has a 19-year-old daughter, Dawn, who she pretends is her younger sister.
Recurring
Joseph May as Andy Button (seasons 1–5) – the head of casting of the network. By the end of the first season, he is fired by Merc because he likes the talking dog show Merc hates. In the second season, he is re-hired when he threatens a lawsuit against the network.
Daisy Haggard as Myra Licht (seasons 1–5) – the head of comedy of the network. She constantly makes negative facial expressions and utters disapproving noises. In the fourth season, she obliviously becomes pregnant and ultimately gives birth.
Genevieve O'Reilly as Jamie Lapidus (seasons 1–3) – Merc's third wife who is blind, but can surprisingly get around. She is aware of Merc's affair with Carol and eventually leaves him for Matt.
Sophie Rundle as Labia (seasons 2–3) – Matt's stalker who has been stalking Matt for 15 years. She was a Make-A-Wish child whose wish had Matt take her to Disneyland, but she survives cancer and starts stalking him, leading to him getting a restraining order against her. Nevertheless, he has slept with her more than once. She subsequently outgrows Matt in the third season.
Fiona Glascott as Diane (seasons 1–5) – Matt's ex-wife who is often angry at Matt, but still feels some affection for him. She is understandably protective of their two sons due to Matt's poor life choices.
Michael Brandon as Elliot Salad (seasons 2–5) – the chairman of the network.
Chris Diamantopoulos as Castor Sotto (seasons 3–4) – Merc's replacement as network executive. Castor has significant psychological issues and bold ideas for changes at the network.
Andrea Savage as Helen Basch (seasons 4–5) – Castor's replacement as network executive. Helen is a lesbian who demonstrates good instincts about creative ideas, but is prone to jealousy.
Alex Rocco as Dick LeBlanc (seasons 3–4) – Matt's father from whom he is estranged, although he supports him financially.
Development and production
In May 2010, the BBC announced that seven episodes had been ordered and that filming had begun, with James Griffiths directing. Sean and Beverly Lincoln were played by Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig, who previously co-starred in the British sitcom Green Wing (2004–2007).
Beverly was originally to be portrayed by Claire Forlani, but she left the cast in April 2010 when the series was in pre-production. LeBlanc was to play a "larger than life version of himself" as character Matt LeBlanc. Thomas Haden Church was also to have a role in the series as Merc Lapidus, the American television executive who commissions the remake, but he left due to scheduling conflicts, and was replaced by John Pankow.
Although the majority of the show was set in Los Angeles, the first season was mainly filmed in the UK, including the 103-room mansion Updown Court that Sean and Beverly Lincoln briefly stayed in. Inserts were shot on location in LA. LeBlanc's Malibu mansion was also UK-based. Seasons 2–5 were shot primarily in Los Angeles.
Reception
The response of American critics was positive. Robert Bianco of USA Today called the show "easily the best new sitcom of the season" and The Boston Globe's Matthew Gilbert said that "Each of the season's seven half-hours is a little sliver of pleasure." A Boston Herald review by Mark A. Perigard was lukewarm; he said he feared that the show would never achieve a broad audience, and David Wiegand from the San Francisco Chronicle praised the performances of the actors but felt that the series simply was not funny. Alan Sepinwall of HitFix went further declaring the show to be one of the worst TV moments of 2011. The UK critics' response to the first episode was broadly lukewarm while remaining optimistic. More screentime for Matt LeBlanc was eagerly anticipated by some, with The Independent's Brian Viner believing that this might improve the series.
The second season received positive reviews from critics. Henry Goldblatt of Entertainment Weekly called the second season "a terrific second season of this industry-set sitcom." USA Today said of the show: "As smartly written as it is played, Episodes offers the comic pleasures, not just of clashing cultures, but of contrasting comic styles. On one side you have LeBlanc, who handles the big laughs and the broader humor, and does it so well, it serves as a reminder that he was under-appreciated during his years on Friends." Ed Bark of Uncle Barky praised the season saying it was "a thoroughly entertaining romp, with the television industry as a combination Tilt-A-Whirl/merry-go-round." On the Firewall & Iceberg podcast Alan Sepinwall and Dan Fienberg commented on the second season, saying that the "self-congratulatory, obvious" show that is "oddly tone-deaf about the business that it was trying to satirize" is "not about anything" and "as a result is better for it," but is still "groaningly unfunny".
The third season received mixed reviews from critics. Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker gave the season a positive review, saying "It seemed doubtful that the show's creators could keep those plates spinning for another round, but the third season introduces a fantastic new contrivance: a psychotic new network head, played by Chris Diamantopoulos." Brian Lowry of Variety gave the season a lukewarm review, praising Matt LeBlanc's performance, writing: "Episodes remains distinguished, mostly, by Matt LeBlanc's gameness in playing a jaundiced, utterly self-absorbed version of himself, the classic stereotype of a sitcom star with an oversized ego.". Phil Dyess-Nugent of The A.V. Club gave the season a "C+" grade and a mixed review, writing: "It's turned out to be a fairly tired satire of Hollywood, one that's stayed yoked to its dubious premise."
Broadcast
The series premiered in Australia on Nine on 3 July 2012, with the second season returning on 4 September 2012. The first two seasons were replayed by subscription television network BBC UKTV (as opposed to Nine which is a free-to-air network), premiering 28 January 2014. Unlike the first two seasons which premiered in Australia on Nine, the third season premiered on pay TV. Although originally set to air on BBC UKTV, the series premiered on BBC First on 12 September 2014, and returned for season four on 7 September 2015. On 14 November 2016, it was reported that the fifth and final season would have its premiere on streaming provider Stan in 2017. This move is believed to be the result of BBC no longer being a co-producer of the series and that Stan has an output agreement with Showtime.
Home media
The series was released gradually over time onto DVD Region 1 as follows:
The entire series has also been made available on DVD Region 2. To date, only Season 1 has additionally been released to Blu-ray.