I've been meaning to talk about Showtime's new show, Episodes, but I wanted to wait until I got a better sense of the show as a whole. In the interim I watched a show starring David Cross that premiered on IFC in October, The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret, and realized that the two shows raise some really interesting comparisons. So, here we go, two shows at once!
Episodes is about a married British writing team who come to LA to help produce an American adaptation of their BAFTA-winning show, Lyman's Boys. The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret (hereafter known as TIPDOTM or simply Todd Margaret) is about an unqualified temp who gets sent to England to sell a toxic energy drink called Thunder Muscle when his company gets taken over by Brent Wilts (Will Arnett), the loudest, angriest, douchiest guy you're ever going to meet. Both shows find humor in these classic fish-out-of-water scenarios, where expectations and long-held stereotypes are tromped on all over the place. However, even just three episodes in, I can tell that Episodes is already much funnier and much better put-together than TIPDOTM has any hopes of being.
Todd Margaret has two things going for it from the start, both of which are squandered almost immediately. The first, most obvious boon is David Cross, whom I have loved for years and years. Cross was brilliant on Mr. Show, Arrested Development, and Running Wilde, just to name a few, and his stand-up is always great. Unfortunately, the one-dimensionality of the character of Todd Margaret leaves Cross with nowhere unexpected to take him. Once we know who Todd is, the rest of the humor lacks interest because there are really almost no surprises. That brings us to the second area of lost potential, the name of the show. At first, the name draws the viewer in with its originality and ability to pique interest. However, the name quickly becomes a fall-back to explain why Todd continues to do the absolutely terrible things he does - he's making increasingly poor decisions, get it? Since each episode begins with Todd being arraigned in a British court (with varying charges each time) we already know where he ends up; unfortunately the ride we have to take to get to that end isn't especially fun.
Some of the best humor in the show comes from shattering some of the stereotypes that Americans project onto England. Not everyone is friendly or even nice, and they don't all live in cottages and sip tea all day while eating fish and chips. Sometimes women who say, "Cor, blimey" will headbutt you on the street if you ask them a question. They don't put Helen Mirren on their money. The rest of the show, I'm sorry to day, was disappointing. I won't give much away, but suffice to say there are numerous jokes that revolve around Todd pissing or shitting his pants - this is not the sophisticated comedy of Arrested Development. The molecular gastronomy jokes get old surprisingly fast, although I must admit I thought the snooker bit was pretty great. The brightest moments are when Cross' real-life girlfriend Amber Tamblyn briefly appears, and whenever Will Arnett is speaking/laughing/cursing. Arnett is truly the saving grace of TIPDOTM, bringing not only a breath of fresh comedy but also some actual character tension towards the end of the six-episode season. Todd Margaret is not a character you root for, and sadly, neither are any of the other characters on the show. The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret ends on a cliffhanger, but honestly I could care less if it returns for another season.
Episodes, however, is off to a blazing start and I am already eager for more, more, more. Starring Tamsin Greig and Stephan Mangan as Beverly and Sean Lincoln ("You know, like your dead president"), Episodes' premise is so brilliant I can't believe no one thought of it before. The English couple gets brought to LA by producer Merc Lapidus (played awesomely by TV veteran John Pankow, who will always be Ira from Mad About You to me) to adapt their quintessentially British show for American audiences. They are told that they will have complete control over the adaptation, but of course that plan goes terribly awry. To begin with, the studio/network/whatever has decided that the lead role of the stodgy, erudite headmaster will be played by Matt LeBlanc. The real LeBlanc is doing great work here, playing a version of himself that, while somewhat fictional, is entirely believable. He never got enough credit for the brilliant work he did as Joey Tribbiani (on Friends - the less said about the subsequent Joey, the better), and his comedic timing is totally en pointe here.
Again, much of the humor comes from watching the two perfectly reasonable, normal Englishfolk floundering amidst the strange, exotic customs of Los Angeles in general and the Hollywood scene in particular. As Sean is able to slowly adapt, Beverly grows more and more flustered and illogical. Remarkably, Matt (the character) is the one who seems the most grounded and sensible, offering changes that really do make more sense for the show and demonstrating a refreshing amount of self-awareness about his celebrity and reputation as an actor. As each episode of Episodes ends, I find myself wanting more and more of this view into the Hollywood process. It's like Entourage without the sluts and insufferable self-importance (and E, blech). You'll find yourself rooting for Sean and Beverly one moment and yelling at them the next, since they, despite their consummate Britishness, are just like us - normal people trying to make the best art possible while navigating the entirely illogical system that produces our pop culture.
So, at the end of the day, comedy genius David Cross makes some tragic missteps and ends up with pants full of shit, and underrated (I blame Lost In Space) television star Matt LeBlanc rules one of the freshest comedies in years. Americans in Britain or the British in America - take your pick, or choose both! You can find episodes of The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Todd Margaret here, and episodes of Episodes online here.
"G'day mates!"
"Thanks, but that's Australian."
Images via NY Post, The AV Club, IGN, His&Hers,, Mean Massive
No comments:
Post a Comment