Showtime and the BBC are partnering on a comedy series starring former Friends star Matt LeBlanc. The series, Episodes, will premiere its six episodes on Showtime and BBC 2 in early 2010.
Episodes is a single camera comedy that follows a British couple whose hit show is turned into a dumb American sitcom when the format rights get sold in the U.S. LeBlanc will play himself as an actor on the dumbed-down show.
David Crane (Friends) and Jeffrey Klarik (Mad About You) created the series, with Jimmy Mulville and his Hat Trick production company (Whose Line Is It Anyway?) also executive producing.
"What a thrill to have two giants of the comedy world like Klarik and Crane to satirize what they know best: the making (or un-making) of art," says Showtime Entertainment President Robert Greenblatt. "We jumped at the chance to get involved with this cock-eyed look at network television told through the eyes of unsuspecting British producers who don't know what hit them when they enter the lion's den of Hollywood. And Matt LeBlanc -- wryly sending up his own image -- is icing on the cake."
