Episodes Information

Episodes is a British/American television sitcom created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik and produced by Hat Trick Productions. It premiered on Showtime on January 9, 2011 at 9:30 pm and began airing on BBC Two on 10 January 2011 at 10 pm.

The show is about a British husband-and-wife comedy writing team who travel to Hollywood to remake their successful British TV series, with disastrous results. The series was renewed by Showtime and the BBC for a second season of nine episodes. The show has been sold to 186 broadcasters across the world. In September 2012 it was announced that a third season of nine episodes had been commissioned and will air in 2013.

Premise

See List of Episodes episodes for more information After happily married couple Sean and Beverly Lincoln win yet another BAFTA Award for their successful British sitcom, Lyman's Boys, they are persuaded to move to Hollywood and remake their series for an American audience. Unfortunately the network starts to make changes, and pressure the couple into casting Matt LeBlanc in the lead role for the sitcom.

A complicated triangle ensues, in which Sean likes Matt, while Beverly is less impressed. With continuing changes to the sitcom it threatens to damage the show, and other pressures result in a rough patch in their marriage.

Cast

Main cast

• Matt LeBlanc as Matt LeBlanc
• Stephen Mangan as Sean Lincoln
• Tamsin Greig as Beverly Lincoln
• John Pankow as Merc Lapidus
• Kathleen Rose Perkins as Carol Rance
• Mircea Monroe as Morning Randolph

Recurring cast

• Genevieve O'Reilly as Jamie Lapidus
• Richard Griffiths as Julian Bullard
• Daisy Haggard as Myra Licht
• Joseph May as Andy Button
• Lou Hirsch as Wallace, the security guard
• James Purefoy as Rob Randolph, Morning's brother
• Fiona Glascott as Diane, Matt's ex-wife
• Sophie Rundle as Labia, Matt's stalker
• Michael Brandon as Elliot Salad, Network head

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 are 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, it was mainly filmed in the UK, including the £35 million mansion Updown Court as the house of Beverley and Sean Lincoln, with inserts shot on location in LA.

The second series began transmissions on BBC Two and BBC HD on 11 May 2012 and on July 1, 2012 on Showtime.

Stephen Mangan announced on his Twitter page that filming of the third season will start in spring. Season 3 will consist of 9 episodes and air in 2013.

Reception

The response of the American critics was mixed. Robert Bianco of USA Today called the show "easily the best new sitcom of the season" and The Boston Globes 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 Independents Brian Viner believing that this might improve the series. The second season received similar reviews to the first season. 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." On the Firewall & Iceberg podcast Alan Sepinwall and Dan Fienberg commented that the second season of the "self-congratulatory, obvious" show that is "oddly tone-deaf about the business that is was trying to satirize" is "not about anything" and "as a result is better for it", but still "groaningly unfunny".

In the UK, episode one of the series premiered with an audience of 1.86 million, an audience share of 8.5%. Episode two received 1.53 million viewers (7.4%), and by episode four viewing numbers were down to 1.09 million (5.3%). Episode five saw a slight rise in viewers to 1.33 million (6.6%), but numbers once again fell for episode six to 1.12 million (5.5%), and the season ended with the lowest number of viewers, 1.06 million (5.1%), tuning in for the final episode. The second series in the UK began with 1.34 million, audience share of 6.8%, but by episode seven had steadily declined to 0.68 million viewers and an audience share of 3.3%. Like in the US, the UK's reception to the second series was positive with The arts Desk saying "There were some very funny industry-related gags, not least network boss Merc (John Pankow) and his PA-cum-mistress Carol (Kathleen Rose Perkins) having sex on his desk while roaring the ratings figures back at one another. The cast are excellent value but at the moment only Greig seems to be playing for genuine emotional stakes. Portraying an exaggerated version of his on-screen persona, LeBlanc's sweet, sex-obsessed shallowness is all that's required, but Mangan " a terrific comic actor - seems constantly to be toying with a smirk, devaluing some of the emotional currency you sense Episodes is striving for. Together, they've proved they can make us laugh."

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
2012	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Matt LeBlanc
		Best Comedy Series	Episodes
	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series	Matt LeBlanc
2013	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor in a Comedy Series	Matt LeBlanc
		Best TV Comedy or Musical	Episodes Season 2

Home video releases

The first season of Episodes has been released by 2 entertain on DVD and Blu-ray in the United Kingdom.

Season	Release dates
	Region 1/A	Region 2/B
Season 1	June 12, 2012	February 28, 2011
Season 2		July 9, 2012