Review: Episodes

I'll confess that I wasn't a Friends watcher, but I did see and remember one episode that was simply hilarious. It featured Matt LeBlanc as Joey, an actor trying to learn some French lines for a part.

Therefore, it should have come as no surprise that Matt LeBlanc, one of the stars in a Showtime Original called Episodes, is laugh out loud funny.

This irreverent comedy series, now on Netflix, is not family fare, but it is indeed binge-worthy for adults.

I started watching it because the short blurb said it was about two writers, and indeed it is. Tamsin Greig is Beverly Lincoln and Stephan Mangan is her husband Sean, two happily married Brits who write for an award-winning comedy series on British TV.

All is well in their happy little bubble until Merc Lapidus, a Hollywood network executive portrayed beautifully by John Pankow throws flattery and a ton of money at them and convinces them to come to America and create an all-American version of their sweet but funny British show.

The end result is hilarious. The American network changes everything, lowers the intelligence level of the American version, adds a lot of gratuitous sex, and names the show Pucks--to rhyme with, you know.

The Brits think the show is a disaster and their marriage is in shambles, but the test audiences loved

the show! Go figure, right? Pucks may be a horrible cliche, as is this rendering of what goes on behind the scenes in Follywood, but Episodes is brilliant and so is Matt LeBlanc who stars as himself.

In truth, I think the attitude expressed by the network executive is how that odd breed of folk feels about writers in general--their a necessary evil in the business of making television and movies.

Takeaway Truth

Episodes is like watching a train wreck. Your jaw is agape and you wonder what the heck is going to happen next--even as you laugh hysterically. It's irreverent, disrespectful, and downright funny.