Tamsin Greig, Matt LeBlanc, Stephen Mangan in “Episodes”; photo courtesy of SHOWTIME
“Episodes” (SHOWTIME)
“Episodes” is back on SHOWTIME for its fourth season. This comedy series stars Matt LeBlanc as a comedic actor named Matt LeBlanc, and no one can play Matt LeBlanc better than Matt LeBlanc. Of course being the smart actor that he is LeBlanc has surrounded himself with a stellar group of supporting players. Tamsin Greig, Stephen Mangan, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Mircea Monroe and John Pankow all bring their A game.
In the series Greig and Mangan play a married couple from Britain who are the writers of the series “Pucks”. LeBlanc is the star of the show. At the end of last season “Pucks” had been cancelled and Beverly and Sean (Greig and Mangan) had returned to England. But this season quickly establishes that “Pucks” had not been officially cancelled and has been picked up for some additional episodes. This news is not met with joy.
LeBlanc also finds out that his financial manager has absconded with half his money and has committed suicide. LeBlanc is left with a measly 31 million on which to live. Of course if his ex-wife remarries he will not have to pay alimony any longer and she has a new boyfriend. LeBlanc is doing all he can to encourage this relationship.
This season looks to be one of “Episodes” best as there is a good balance between LeBlanc’s screen time and that of Greig and Mangan. These three actors play off each other with good results and each one helps raise the game of the others. Plus there is a natural likeability to these actors. LeBlanc brings all his good feelings from “Friends” and Greig reminds us of a young Paula Prentiss while Mangan exudes the looks and air of a young Elliott Gould.
The writing on this show is brisk and subtle. Plus there are some hilarious actions and reactions from the cast. They enhance the scripts which are already good to begin with. Each episode has at least a couple of laugh out loud moments.
If you have not yet sampled “Episodes” make sure you do. Or maybe you tried it and tired of it in the second or third season, now you need to come back. The show seems to be on a good, entertaining path and Matt LeBlanc is better than ever.
“Episodes” airs Sunday nights at 10:30 (ET) on SHOWTIME.
