Talking Telly: ‘Episodes’ spoofs how American TV treats British TV

Anyone who watches British comedy at all knows the extremely mixed history of American remakes of wonderful Britcoms. Frankly, it’s a miracle that “The Office” made it (thank a great cast and that apparently NBC couldn’t steamroll Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant in the process of making it) because for it there is “Coupling,” “Spaced,” “Men Behaving Badly,” and “Teachers.”

And then there’s the ones that didn’t or haven’t even make it to a pilot. Frankly, I’m thankful for “Gavin and Stacey” because I had heard the redeveloped plot involved Gavin being in NYC and Stacey in South Carolina and the two meeting “halfway” in New Jersey. What?!?

After “Coupling” died its very painful and embarrassing death, Steven Moffat was very vocal about how NBC screwed him and the show over at every stage after they bought the American rights.

“The network [expletive] it up, because they intervened endlessly. If you really want a job to work, don’t get [NBC studio head] Jeff Zucker’s team to come help you with it, because they’re not funny,” he told the Star-Ledger at the time.

So in a sense, it’s incredibly brilliant irony that the creator of “Friends,” probably NBC’s most successful sitcom of all time, is now doing a show that in all appearances is recreating the experience that Moffatt had with “Coupling.” And because he’s smart, David Crane is sticking with BBC Two and Showtime.

The show “Episodes” stars Matt LeBlanc (if you lived under a rock in the 1990′s, he was one of the main cast of “Friends”) and costars Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig. If those last two names don’t fill you with a certain sense of ecstasy, please go to Hulu and watch “Green Wing” and “Black Books” immediately.

The basic premise of the show is best described in this excellent New York Times article, but can be summed up that Mangan and Greig are British screenwriters who have a huge hit in the UK that is brought over to the US, completely eviscerated by network executives, and LeBlanc is, well, Matt LeBlanc playing their main lead.

“Episodes” was promoted at the Television Critics Association panels on Thursday, and it’s only natural that it’s being promoted as LeBlanc’s big comeback. His character is described as a sendup of himself similar to Larry David in “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” But the funny parts were how Crane, his writing partner, “Mad About You’s” Jeffrey Klarik, and co-producer John Mulville – who had his own nightmare remake with “Game On” and Fox (“The journey of taking an English show to America – believe me, things can go wrong.” – shamelessly poked hot sticks at the traditional American networks. Basically, Crane said he never considered taking the show anywhere other than one of the premium cable networks because both he and Klarik were so fed up with their own past experiences.

The show is scheduled to debut on BBC Two this fall, and on Showtime in the US in January.