Finished season 4 and 5 of "Episodes." This last season got a little threadbare in places but certainly redeemed itself in the finale.
You know how I love self-referential pieces, right? Well, not only is this a TV series about a couple of writers trying to write a hit TV series, but there are lots of outside references. In one episode the producers try to get Matt to get one of the other "Friends" cast members to guest on his show to boost ratings. They all turn him down of course. Mostly very rudely. He ends up using Gunter the bartender in a surprise cameo. Later David Schwimmer really does appear on the show in a cameo. Meanwhile Matt is constantly being reminded of the failure of "Joey," his short-lived spinoff after "Friends." They talk about all the episodes they shot that never were aired -- which really happened.
Real actors and actresses constantly get talked about, sometimes in the most appalling ways. One wonders how much (if any of it) is true.
And in the ending, the writers find a perfect vehicle for Matt, about a self-absorbed asshole actor and it becomes a hit. That show is... wait for it... "Episodes." So it was all a show-within-a-show (within-a-couple-of-other-shows).
It was pretty darn well done, overall.
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