Episodes
- Thread starter JoeZhang
- Start date
I'll keep watching, but I also wasn't impressed with the first episode. I wouldn't judge it too harshly though since it was just the set-up for what's to come; I'm willing to give it some time.
The first two episodes were released online last week. I was more impressed with the second episode than the first.
I thought it was a load of crap.
This.
and this.
I was SO amazed how truly unfunny it was. The scripts weren't sharp. The editing slow. It just wasn't... anything special.
Or entertaining.
I just kept thinking, how is this different the Entourage? Oh, yeah. It's not as good.
Pass. Sorry, Joey.
Steven Moffat seemed to like it...
Personally I thought it was a nice idea but not done as well as it could be. I hope it improves and I'll check out at least 1 more episode, but not sure I'll continue past there if I don't see a glimmer of hope.
Tamsin Greig is in it, so I'm sold.
I was in Mauritius for the past few weeks, so only just caught up on all the episodes of, well, Episodes on iplayer yesterday.
First episode was dire. But the second was a lot better, and the third and fourth are genuinely hilarious.
If you only saw the first episode, and then gave up, I urge you to catch up on the other installments, esp. the third one which totally cracked me up in several places.
This is turning into a great little show. Mangan and Grieg are reliably great together, as I expected they would be from their Green Wing pedigree, but Matt LeBlanc is seriously funny, and does a suprisingly good line in insincere charm. What I like most is that they let the actors play to their relative strengths. The US actors tend to be given the snappy one-liners and physical comedy, and the more lengthy wordplay is given to the British ones. Rather than a mediocre hybrid of the two forms, this relative separation lets both sets of actors thrive to create a varied and interesting whole. Good way to write it.
It's just a shame the first episode was so bad, and the second only average. That must have turned a lot of viewers away.
First episode was dire. But the second was a lot better, and the third and fourth are genuinely hilarious.
If you only saw the first episode, and then gave up, I urge you to catch up on the other installments, esp. the third one which totally cracked me up in several places.
This is turning into a great little show. Mangan and Grieg are reliably great together, as I expected they would be from their Green Wing pedigree, but Matt LeBlanc is seriously funny, and does a suprisingly good line in insincere charm. What I like most is that they let the actors play to their relative strengths. The US actors tend to be given the snappy one-liners and physical comedy, and the more lengthy wordplay is given to the British ones. Rather than a mediocre hybrid of the two forms, this relative separation lets both sets of actors thrive to create a varied and interesting whole. Good way to write it.
It's just a shame the first episode was so bad, and the second only average. That must have turned a lot of viewers away.
This is the HBO show about behind the scenes at a TV show, right? There have been shows in development from time to time that are behind the scenes at a Star Trekkian type show - now that would be fun. How about Matt LeBlanc as a clueless egotistical blowhard actor playing a starship captain?
Even more fun, set the show in the 60s (or 70s) to capture what the TV biz was like in that era. It would be more interesting if it happened in the heyday of network TV, before cable and VCRs ruined everything and sent genre shows scrambling for the cover of syndication and cable.
It did me, but I'll give it another look.
I hope you find the 3rd (and 4th) eps the major improvement that I found them to be.
I like the main point. How often have we seen shows that are very funny inb the English version and complete failures in the US version? Fawlty Towers and Red Dwarf come to mind. As an insight into that, how a show can lose its way, it's good.
Grieg's good, I'm not so sold on Mangan, but they do work well together. Le Blanc is a revelation - I was never a Friend, didn't like Joey The Show, thought he was okay in LiS. Here he's really interesting and not as stupid (IRL) as you might think. Being prepared to take the piss out of yourself is a sign of a healthy ego (rahter than a plastic Hollywood one ).
I'll be watching.
Grieg's good, I'm not so sold on Mangan, but they do work well together. Le Blanc is a revelation - I was never a Friend, didn't like Joey The Show, thought he was okay in LiS. Here he's really interesting and not as stupid (IRL) as you might think. Being prepared to take the piss out of yourself is a sign of a healthy ego (rahter than a plastic Hollywood one
).I'll be watching.
I've watched the first 3 now and I have to admit, it's getting better. The core idea is great, and Matt LeBlanc really steals the show with his self parody, especially alongside the (apparently quite realistic) network execs.
My only concern is one that is true of many shows-about-shows, that because they are writing and filming what they know very intimately it can become easy to lose viewers who aren't so clued up on the process of making an American TV show. I think it's trodden that line well so far, but it will need to be careful not to just become a lengthy in joke.
My only concern is one that is true of many shows-about-shows, that because they are writing and filming what they know very intimately it can become easy to lose viewers who aren't so clued up on the process of making an American TV show. I think it's trodden that line well so far, but it will need to be careful not to just become a lengthy in joke.
I hope you find the 3rd (and 4th) eps the major improvement that I found them to be.
Didn't find them a major improvement. Though the editing was tighter.
I DID laugh at the LeBlanc cock joke.
What is interesting, the show within the show, is so dead on as a bad American sitcom... the library scene, yes, that's a kid from an American sitcom.
But, it's still, meh...
^ Oh well, chacun a son gout, I guess. At least you got one chuckle out of it!
Australis - I like how LeBlanc's character is actually a lot more savvy than the British pair, but only let's himself show it in brief flashes. In terms of the meta-story, it's like he's got so used to playing Joey (not just on screen but in terms of what people expect from him in real life), that he doesn't let himself show any sort of maturity/intelligence except when off-guard or in a quieter one-to-one setting. The Joey persona becomes a security blanket, preventing others from getting too close (or making fun of Matt LeBlanc, rather than Matt-as-Joey).
More generally, I don't think Episodes will get enough viewers to justify another series. But that's TV; you have to enjoy what you episodes have.
Australis - I like how LeBlanc's character is actually a lot more savvy than the British pair, but only let's himself show it in brief flashes. In terms of the meta-story, it's like he's got so used to playing Joey (not just on screen but in terms of what people expect from him in real life), that he doesn't let himself show any sort of maturity/intelligence except when off-guard or in a quieter one-to-one setting. The Joey persona becomes a security blanket, preventing others from getting too close (or making fun of Matt LeBlanc, rather than Matt-as-Joey).
More generally, I don't think Episodes will get enough viewers to justify another series. But that's TV; you have to enjoy what you episodes have.
