Interview: Matt Le Blanc, Tamsin Grieg, Stephen Mangan
For those who aren't familiar, Episodes, starring Matt Le Blanc, Tamsin Grieg, and Stephen Mangan is the story of happily married couple Sean and Beverly Lincoln who, following success with their sitcom in the UK, make the move to Hollywood.
Remaking their series for an American audience, Matt Le Blanc will become the couples' leading man. Cue marriage issues, problems with the television studio and more.
Now in its third series Stephen, Tamsin and Matt laugh when they say, 'we all have a terrible time in this series.'
Stephen and Tamsin's characters end up in counselling.
'We go to a sex therapist. Not because of me.' Tamsin tells me.
'Because of me and my disappointing equipment,' Stephen tells me. Hastily adding, 'Not mine, my character's!'
Judging by the laughter from the threesome, one of the comedic gems we have to look forward to is a scene where Tamsin's character's vagina gets a speaking part. Yes, you did read tharight.
'My vagina gets to talk...when I read that I thought this is going to be impossible to do. Because I have to look at Stephen Mangan's face.' (Which she admits made her laugh so much they spent the whole afternoon trying to get the scene right.)
Stephen laughs, 'if you haven't spent an afternoon listening to Tamsin's talking vagina you haven't lived is all I can say.'
This unusual scene comes about thanks to the couples visit to the sex therapist.
'It said in the script, "the sex therapist goes, If your vagina could talk what it would want to say to Sean?" I say if my vagina could talk we'd be having a whole new set of problems... And then it says, Beverly turns to Sean and talks in a deep Yoda like voice.'
'I read that and thought this is going to be impossible...It took hours.'
And it would appear that that wasn't the only funny moment.
'There were too many really for professional integrity to be maintained,' they laugh.
With Tamsin adding, 'We waste the licence payers' money!'
Filming with two Brits, I wonder if Matt, of Friends fame, has picked up any British habits?
'Not really, haven't started drinking tea yet.'
'We do talk a lot about Shakespeare and you do feel a little bit isolated,' laughs Tamsin.
'Yeah. I think he wore funny pants. I'll say it right out loud.'
With the three of them having already worked on some very successful series, Matt with Friends and both Tamsin and Stephen in Greenwing amongst others, is there an extra pressure to make the series a hit?
'The way I dealt with that is I say it's not a comedy,' says Tamsin.
'It is beautifully crafted and they [David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik] are the finest comedy writers so you're in good hands. But if you go into it thinking "I've really got to make this a hit comedy", you're kind of chasing after your tail.'
Matt adds, 'there are also so many things that are out of your control. All we can do is work hard, read the material and craft the best product you can. How it's broadcast, marketed, the time slot, that's all out of our control. It would be silly to put that pressure on ourselves.'
Episodes, 10pm, BBC Two, Wednesday
Remaking their series for an American audience, Matt Le Blanc will become the couples' leading man. Cue marriage issues, problems with the television studio and more.
Now in its third series Stephen, Tamsin and Matt laugh when they say, 'we all have a terrible time in this series.'
Stephen and Tamsin's characters end up in counselling.
'We go to a sex therapist. Not because of me.' Tamsin tells me.
'Because of me and my disappointing equipment,' Stephen tells me. Hastily adding, 'Not mine, my character's!'
Judging by the laughter from the threesome, one of the comedic gems we have to look forward to is a scene where Tamsin's character's vagina gets a speaking part. Yes, you did read tharight.
'My vagina gets to talk...when I read that I thought this is going to be impossible to do. Because I have to look at Stephen Mangan's face.' (Which she admits made her laugh so much they spent the whole afternoon trying to get the scene right.)
Stephen laughs, 'if you haven't spent an afternoon listening to Tamsin's talking vagina you haven't lived is all I can say.'
This unusual scene comes about thanks to the couples visit to the sex therapist.
'It said in the script, "the sex therapist goes, If your vagina could talk what it would want to say to Sean?" I say if my vagina could talk we'd be having a whole new set of problems... And then it says, Beverly turns to Sean and talks in a deep Yoda like voice.'
'I read that and thought this is going to be impossible...It took hours.'
And it would appear that that wasn't the only funny moment.
'There were too many really for professional integrity to be maintained,' they laugh.
With Tamsin adding, 'We waste the licence payers' money!'
Filming with two Brits, I wonder if Matt, of Friends fame, has picked up any British habits?
'Not really, haven't started drinking tea yet.'
'We do talk a lot about Shakespeare and you do feel a little bit isolated,' laughs Tamsin.
'Yeah. I think he wore funny pants. I'll say it right out loud.'
With the three of them having already worked on some very successful series, Matt with Friends and both Tamsin and Stephen in Greenwing amongst others, is there an extra pressure to make the series a hit?
'The way I dealt with that is I say it's not a comedy,' says Tamsin.
'It is beautifully crafted and they [David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik] are the finest comedy writers so you're in good hands. But if you go into it thinking "I've really got to make this a hit comedy", you're kind of chasing after your tail.'
Matt adds, 'there are also so many things that are out of your control. All we can do is work hard, read the material and craft the best product you can. How it's broadcast, marketed, the time slot, that's all out of our control. It would be silly to put that pressure on ourselves.'
Episodes, 10pm, BBC Two, Wednesday