Show Orders Episodes With Matt LeBlanc

Showtime has ordered six half-hour episode of Episodes, created by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, for a 2010 premiere on Showtime and BBC Two. Episodes, which will start production in January in London and Los Angeles, centers on a successful British husband-and-wife comedy team thrilled by the prospect of producing an U.S. version of their hit series. But they are soon forced to replace the erudite British lead in the original with the quintessential U.S. comedy star, Matt LeBlanc, who will be playing a version of himself. They begin to sink deeper into the quicksand that is the Hollywood TV business ruled by a legion of network and studio executives.

The plot of Episodes is not without real-life parallels; for example, NBC struggled to adapt the UK hit Coupling before scoring gold with its version of British favorite The Office.