Matt LeBlanc Overcomes Being Matt LeBlanc By Playing Matt LeBlanc in Episodes

While Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer struggled to overcome "The Friends Curse" since fleeing Central Perk in 2004, Matt LeBlanc has battled an even worse affliction: "The Matt LeBlanc Curse." Unlike his co-stars, LeBlanc tried to mine his Friends success into a spin-off that failed so dramatically, it has since prevented the actor's casting in any project -- even an "It Gets Better" PSA. (Because, let's face it, LeBlanc's career has only proved otherwise.) Now, the former Joey Tribbiani is going to extreme lengths to prove that he is anything but a dimwitted has-been...by playing a jaded has-been in Showtime's Episodes.

The set-up alone is enough to stump Joey. British husband-and-wife comedy team (Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig) move to Los Angeles to adapt their successful UK series for the states and are pressured by television executives to cast Matt LeBlanc -- whose career, like in real life, has stagnated after Friends -- against type as the "erudite, verbally dexterous headmaster." It is a convoluted premise from Friends co-creator David Crane that, like Curb Your Enthusiasm, blurs the lines between a real comedic actor and a fictionalized version of a real comedic actor. If audiences embrace the project, they could earn themselves another small-scale Friends reunion. And if they don't, Episodes will likely go down in history books as the Inception of Matt LeBlanc's screen career.

VERDICT: A must for John Pankow completists but just a TiVo back-up for Friends fans.