By now, television audiences are familiar with the concept: Great (or even just good) British television has a chance at new life with an American remake. It is indicative of either the quality of British television or the lack of originality in American entertainment as a whole.
Now it feels inevitable that a series like Showtime’s new show “Episodes” was eventually going to get made. The show follows Sean and Beverly Lincoln, creators of the series “Lyman’s Boys.” The fictional show-within-a-show just won the BAFTA Award (think British version of the Oscars and the Emmys), and now it is getting an American remake.
But as the first two episodes unfold, the American version of “Lyman’s Boys” looks more like the American version of “Coupling” than the American version of “The Office.”
It all begins with Matt LeBlanc (Joey from “Friends”). Now let us put one notion about the show to bed immediately. While the American version of “Lyman’s Boys” is LeBlanc’s show, “Episodes” is not his show. In fact, LeBlanc never even shows up in the pilot. The protagonists are the Lincolns, who struggle coping not only with the compulsively lying studio executives but also the transition from England to Hollywood.
Promotional material for a Showtime show with LeBlanc might have turned some viewers away and understandably so. Reassuringly, the Showtime series treats LeBlanc as even more of a joke than someone who hates “Friends” would.
The real strength of “Episodes” is that it never really goes off the deep end with gags. Everything plays out in a zany, yet believable way, as we see the downfall of the Lincolns’ vision for their show.
The studio executives do not immediately reject the Lincolns’ request to bring over the British series’ star. They simply ask him to audition again, still surprising considering the British series’ success. It’s not until the studio asks the actor to speak in an American accent that the audition crashes and burns.
LeBlanc’s casting as that actor’s replacement begins a snowball of changes to the show’s script itself. It all seems to happen slowly and methodically, though it only takes up the first two episodes of the series.
But while “Episodes” is perfectly acceptable, it is not a series to seek out. Upon further examination, the show’s ground has really already been covered. One does not even have to look far — just to another premium cable channel’s offerings this decade.
While the show-within-a-show in HBO’s “Extras” was not famous in Britain and adapted for America, it did also involve the same dynamic of a network creating a creative stranglehold on a show, transforming it from something new and dynamic to something formulaic and proven.
In the second episode, when LeBlanc finagles his way into a character change through network politics, it feels a lot like “Extras,” even though “Episodes” is arguably more subtle about it.
And “Extras” was not only a study about the corruption of artistic integrity. It turned into an indictment on the trappings of fame and a display of the ridiculousness of television. “Episodes” does not seem to have that much potential early on.
And as for the behind-the-scenes workings of Hollywood life, HBO’s “Entourage” is about to enter its eighth season.
Perhaps the biggest problem with “Episodes” is it never unleashes the belly laughs that “Extras” consistently did and “Entourage,” at least, used to do. Its humor is hit-or-miss. In particular, a running gag about a forgetful security guard not letting the Lincolns back into their Hollywood home gets old on the first attempt and then keeps recurring to no laughs.
It is unfair to make such broad comparisons early on, but “Episodes” only has seven installments this season, true to the shorter British television model. It does not have much time to find its footing and grow.
Ultimately, even though it is perfectly acceptable viewing for a boring evening, “Episodes” might end up as forgettable as the British-to-American adaptations it mocks.
Three stars
