Episodes (US)

A riotously, often scathingly funny showbiz satire that proves LeBlanc is smart enough to know self-mockery can be a potent weapon, and talented enough to wield it properly.

It offers a great cast, and some very tight, tart scripting. Each of the season's seven half-hours is a little sliver of pleasure.

Episodes is flawless and hilarious. What a pity it lasts only seven episodes.

[A] very amusing and splendidly acted comedy about what happens when an American television network mucks up a long-running, award-laden British hit.

Episodes is great--the sharpest sitcom debut this year. Among other excellent qualities, it's actively funny, with none of the dramedy lumpiness that spoils other half-hour offerings (bad camp, faux-energy badinage, heavy-handed sentimentality).

Episodes, which got uproarious laughter in cut-down form at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in July, does not disappoint an ounce as it rolls through a seven-episode season. It also signals a savvy return to television for LeBlanc, who manages to be the butt of the joke one moment then hilariously likable the next.

If you've ever wondered how television screws up so many promising projects, check out Episodes, a new Showtime series with Matt LeBlanc that provides the answers in deliciously hilarious detail.

If you find the premiere poky, stick with it: Episodes gets funnier with each succeeding episode, and the acting is superb. Yes: Matt LeBlanc = superb.

In Hollywood, it may be business as usual. But in Episodes, it’s fodder for great comedy.

By the second or third episode, it evolves into another Hollywood rarity: a TV show that is truly about relationships, complex and captivating for the long haul.

The writing in Episodes, by sitcom vets David Crane (Friends, The Class) and Jeffrey Klarik (The Class), is sharp and merciless, and, except for a trite jealousy subplot, on point.

Three good lead performances (including one from "Friends" star Matt LeBlanc) and enough sharp writing about both show business and relationships give the show a comedic bite that makes up for the stuff you've seen before.

This seven-episode series, written by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, doesn't offer many new ideas about the evils of the TV business--a lot of the ground covered here was previously mined by the underrated 1999-2001 Showtime series "Beggars & Choosers"--but it's still fun to join in the mocking of Hollywood, a big, juicy target that Episodes hits with ease.

while the TV satire is far too broad, the dialogue is wittily written, and Matt LeBlanc--playing himself, inappropriately cast by the network to replace the elderly thespian who originated his role--turns out to be a pleasure to watch.

Even when it's irritating, Episodes is funny. And if, at times, it intentionally or unintentionally pokes fun at itself as much as anything else well, that works too.

Episodes mines Hollywood absurdities for dependable laughs, it's LeBlanc, playing himself, or more accurately, a character who shares his name and resume, who elevates the seven-episode first season above simple parody as the actor forced down the writers' throats. He might even be the most interesting character in the show.

A satirical and quite funny comedy about two British television writers, a husband- and wife team, Sean and Beverly Lincoln (Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig) who are lured to Hollywood to adapt their hit sitcom for an American network.

Episodes has funny moments, [but] like "Curb Your Enthusiasm," the satire is an acquired taste and seems to be too inside showbiz to find a mass audience.

It's a light, clever performance. But Episodes never convinces us this is really Hollywood. [17 Jan 2011, p.40]

There are some promising moments Episodes, and as the characters move beyond stereotypes, some of the story lines begin to pay off in amusing and even touching ways.

A joint effort between Showtime and the BBC, it features British humor and American humor. These don't always play nice together, and Episodes appears unsure of how to make them merge or which to privilege.

Halfway through episode two, anybody with a feel for such material will see where every beat is heading, even if the trip there isn't always unpleasant.

The performances are actually good in the series, if only the actors had credible or remotely likable or, dare we ask, funny characters to play.

Episodes has funny moments. It just seems primarily designed to amuse the TV industry.