Coupling, Life on Mars, Little Britain, The Office, Skins, Top Gear, Whose Line Is It Anyway?
All of these shows were hit UK television shows before American producers decided to bring them over to America and retool it for American audiences. Some of them have worked some haven’t, but we’ve gotten fairly used to UK shows coming over seas to us. The television show Episodes isn’t another UK show, but what it is, is a fictional show about that process.
Sean Lincoln (Stephen Mangan – I’m Alan Partridge) and Beverly Lincoln (Tamsin Greig – Black Books) are a married British couple who have a hit television show in Britain and are approached by Merc Lapidus, a producer for an American television show who says he simply loves their show and wants to bring it to America. The Lincoln’s agree and they head out to American to begin making an American version of their show. However they didn’t realize, the producer had never seen an episode and begins making changes left and right including hiring on actor Matt LeBlanc (who plays himself) to play the lead role despite the Lincoln’s hating the idea.
Matt LeBlanc shines in this show as he is the awful version of himself, really thinking he is the best actor in the world. This dynamic along with the great performances from The Lincoln’s and the supporting cast make this show incredibly watchable. It has the awkward humor I’ve come to know and love from many British programs and it is just downright funny. The show on Showtime is actually created by two long time sitcom producers David Crane (Friends) and Jeffrey Klarik (Mad About You) which adds to the realism of the event. Currently only seven episode have been made as it is also running in Britain. But I suspect it will go to another season because of how good it is.
If you have a chance to watch this show you should give it a try. I highly recommend it unless you averse to awkward humor. It can be viewed sunday nights on showtime or the first episode is currently available on hulu and the first three episodes are available to watch on showtimes website sho.com