S05.E06: Episode Six

[QQQQ]

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Sean and Beverly find themselves in an ugly dispute with Matt when he demands a writing credit on their new show; Carol decides to leave television, move home to Michigan and raise Merc's child on her own.

[whiporee]

Lots of funny. It was neat to see both Carol and Matt show they know more than Sean and Beverly about the way the industry works -- the show has made a lot of industry people into buffoons, and seeing both of them make key points to S&B was a refreshing change. 

Glad Carol and Beverly got back together -- I've got no problem with Carol and Helen getting back together, either. 

I think Matt rejecting the script leads us back to the projected ending nest week. Sad to be losing it -- this has been a surprisingly fun ride.   

[RedMal]

Fun episode once again. I was getting really nervous at the end, though. First Sean and Matt had a moment, then Sean and Bev talked about how they didn't remember getting home and then Matt disappeared. I was ready to hear some bad news, but once Sean said "he might be dead", I knew Matt was safe.

The storyline did however feel kinda forced, they're just filling time with these vests and Matt's mood swings. It's entertaining, sure, but we have only four episodes left.

It was weird seeing Bev relaxed and sincerely laughing in the restaurant scene.

EDIT: Wait, what? Next week is the finale? Fuck. I was waiting for ten episodes.

Edited October 2, 2017 by RedMal

[xaxat]

1 hour ago, whiporee said:

It was neat to see both Carol and Matt show they know more than Sean and Beverly about the way the industry works -- the show has made a lot of industry people into buffoons, and seeing both of them make key points to S&B was a refreshing change. 

Both of those scenes were great. Very quick but so informative. I hope Beverly's conversation with Carol leads to Beverly and Sean picking her up as their agent.

And somehow I'm sure they will reconcile with Matt. Because they always do.

[wendyg]

I will really miss this show.

That said, it *is* ridiculous that Carol can't find a job. Granted, she's poison for the studios at the moment (but Hollywood forgets...), but I would have thought she'd be a prize find for any of the big agencies because she has so much inside knowledge of how her studio works and the foibles of each of the executives. Sean and Beverly should have fired Eileen in any case the first time she displayed a conflict of interest (which was when she signed Tim as a client way back last season). So it probably is time for the show to end and Sean and Beverly to go back home and accept being poor by Matt's standards. I hope they find a reasonably happy ending for Carol. Matt will always survive.

[iMonrey]

I can't believe next week is the finale already. I'm really going to miss this show.

Part of me can't help wondering if maybe - just maybe - Sean and Beverly aren't very good writers after all. I mean, maybe it was just dumb luck that Lyman's Boys was so successful. They only had to write six episodes per season and it only had four seasons. It's possible Lyman's Boys was funny because the actor who played him made him funny. I know they didn't want to write Pucks but if they were really good writers they could have made that work. And while the American networks might have been fighting over The Opposite of Us, it was rejected in the UK. So maybe their script for Matt wasn't really very good after all, or maybe they aren't good at writing for American audiences.

[ganesh]

12 hours ago, whiporee said:

It was neat to see both Carol and Matt show they know more than Sean and Beverly about the way the industry works -- the show has made a lot of industry people into buffoons, and seeing both of them make key points to S&B was a refreshing change. 

I don't know that Carol knew more. She just told them to let it go. At first I was hoping Sean and Bev would walk, but Matt's monologue was really insightful, and he was right. No one is going to watch a show from Sean and Bev. The tv landscape is glutted with millions of shows. 

I did love all the insults thrown around in the cars. The scene of Bev getting hit on was the funniest though.

7 hours ago, iMonrey said:

So maybe their script for Matt wasn't really very good after all, or maybe they aren't good at writing for American audiences.

No, I think Matt's going to come up with the idea for the 'show within a show' and what we're watching is it. Sean told Matt he needs to do something completely different. Playing himself as a total jerk would essentially throw out any residual Joey comparisons. 

[xaxat]

9 minutes ago, ganesh said:

I don't know that Carol knew more. She just told them to let it go.

When she was walking with Beverly on the beach she explained that the creative credits and points (which Sean and Beverly were fixated on) really didn't matter because the show probably wouldn't last long enough to make them relevant. What they really needed to focus on were up front and cancellation fees.

[scrb]

Yeah this would be their third show, so time to end it.

Though you imagine they'd continue to work at developing some hit show, to cash in, which is presumably one of the reasons they came out to LA in the first place.

 

I saw the actress who plays Carol in a couple of other things.  Before Episodes, I'd never seen her before, so the show's been good for some people involved.

I'll also be curious to see what the creators of the show do next.

[wendyg]

Yes, Kathleen Rose Perkins is playing Lindsay's boss ("...and why I eat ice for lunch") in YOU'RE THE WORST.  Crane is one of the three creators of FRIENDS, and Klarik was one of the executive producers of MAD ABOUT YOU. I'd like to think they'll want to do more...

[iMonrey]

Are there really only going to be seven episodes? Maybe next week is a one-hour? Last season had nine.

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I think Matt's going to come up with the idea for the 'show within a show' and what we're watching is it.

I don't know if they'd go that meta. I can't see this (fictional) version of Matt starring in a show where he's such a monster.

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When she was walking with Beverly on the beach she explained that the creative credits and points (which Sean and Beverly were fixated on) really didn't matter because the show probably wouldn't last long enough to make them relevant. What they really needed to focus on were up front and cancellation fees.

I'm not even sure Matt could get a "created by" credit. From what I understand, whoever writes the pilot script gets a "created by" credit for every episode thereafter - even if they never write another episode in the entire series. That's the way the screenwriter's guild works. There are several shows on the air that were "created by" a writer who never wrote anything else for the show beyond the pilot. There are even some who get the "created by" credit when their pilot scripts were heavily re-written by others.

I think in reality, if Matt pressed the case that he "helped" create the series, the most he could hope for is something along the lines of "created by Sean and Beverly Lincoln, based on an idea by Matt LeBlanc." That's what Roseanne Barr got for her sitcom. I think you also have to be a member of the screenwriter's guild to get that "created by" credit.

[kieyra]

For those who might not be aware, now that we near the end ... you can watch Tamsin Grieg and Stephen Mangan in Green Wing on Netflix. It's a 2000s-era British hospital comedy that is painfully/R-ratedly funny, with lots of familiar faces (such as Olivia Colman, first place I ever saw her). If Scrubs smoked meth. 

https://www.netflix.com/title/70227162

Edited October 7, 2017 by kieyra