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Episodes Trailer: Matt LeBlanc Would Like You to Give Matt LeBlanc Another Chance

Matt LeBlanc’s new series, Episodes, in which he plays a version of himself — an actor named Matt LeBlanc who used to star as Joey on the TV show Friends — starts in January. To herald its arrival, Showtime has released a new trailer for the series, which is about a couple turning its high-quality British TV show into a less-high-quality American sitcom, starring none other than LeBlanc. First things first: Matt Leblanc looks really good in it. That is not a commentary on his acting (which is not bad). Gray hair suits him. (Sorry if thinking about Joey Tribbiani this way grosses you out.) As for the rest, there’s a lot of promise here — funny lines, and the inherent richness of a Curb Your Enthusiasm/The Comeback premise — but also some ineffable weirdness. Why is everyone faintly orange? Why is everyone’s skin so eerily flawless? Is it these qualities that make the first 30 seconds feel like a commercial, not a TV show? Also, jokes about how Matt LeBlanc is hung like “a sea monster”? Were they aiming for biting but accidentally hit self-satisfied instead? Still, on the strength of this promo, we will be giving LeBlanc another shot.

Episodes Trailer: Matt LeBlanc Would Like You to Give Matt LeBlanc Another Chance