Matt LeBlanc Returns To TV With New Showtime Comedy

A “Friends” reunion feature film aside, “Friends” star Matt LeBlanc is returning to TV after inking a deal with Showtime with a new comedy called “Episodes.”

LeBlanc will play himself in a satirical single-camera comedy about a British couple whose hit UK show is turned into a dumbed-down American sitcom starring LeBlanc.

The creative team behind the comedy-within-a-comedy will include “Friends” creator David Crane and “Mad About You” producer Jeffrey Klarik.

The first of six episodes will beging shooting in London and Los Angeles around January and it will be a co-production of Showtime and the BBC.

“What a thrill to have two giants of the comedy world like Klarik and Crane to satirize what they know best: the making (or un-making) of art,” says Showtime Entertainment President Robert Greenblatt.

“We jumped at the chance to get involved with this cock-eyed look at network television told through the eyes of unsuspecting British producers who don’t know what hit them when they enter the lion’s den of Hollywood. And Matt LeBlanc — wryly sending up his own image — is icing on the cake.”

For his part, LeBlanc jokes: “I am so glad I got the part, seeing someone else play Matt LeBlanc would have been devastating. Jeffrey and David have a great idea. I love it.”

‘Episodes’ is scheduled to air on both networks in early to mid 2010.

Source: TV Shark