-
-
-
Lead Balloon : Season 3
-
Air date: 13 Nov '08 - 7 episodesLead Balloon is a British television series produced by Open Mike Productions for BBC Four. The series was created and is co-written by comedian Jack Dee and Pete Sinclair. It stars Dee as Rick Spleen, a cynical and misanthropic comedian whose life is plagued by petty annoyances, disappointments and embarrassments. Raquel Cassidy, Sean Power and Tony Gardner also star. The first series of six episodes was broadcast on BBC Four in 2006, with the first episode achieving the highest ratings for a comedy on the channel. Repeats of the series were run on BBC Two and BBC HD, bringing it to a larger audience. A second series of eight episodes aired on BBC Two in November 2007, and a third series began airing in November 2008. A fourth and final series commenced broadcast on 31 May 2011 on BBC Two and ended on 5 July. Comparisons were made by critics to the successful American comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm, and positive comments were made about Lead Balloon's characters, particularly Magda, the Eastern...
-
-
List of Episodes (7)
-
Lead Balloon (2006)
-
1. Gas
13 Nov '08The episode opens with Rick at a celebrity charity auction trying to attract bids for the waistcoat of an ex-rock star. To start the bidding, he opens with a bit of £500 but with no takers, he ends up with it. Seeing Michael's father at the auction with a man, he assumes that they are a gay couple and resolves to protect Michael from this revelation. Meanwhile Magda has had to move out of her flat as the gas boiler is faulty and moves into the Spleen household. It is clear that Michael
-
Lead Balloon (2006)
-
2. Panda
20 Nov '08Magda has begun settling in, to the extent of infiltrating her fridge magnets and watching The Jeremy Kyle Show in the afternoons; meanwhile Rick has signed up for a television programme to trace his ancestry. Ben and Sam have formed a pop duo, "Ben and Sam." who are shown performing a track called "Tragic" on Youtube. Michael is inexplicably missing after the revelations about his father, but Rick and Marty find him working out in his garage, seemingly unconcerned. Rick has discovered his
-
Lead Balloon (2006)
-
3. Fax
27 Nov '08Rick has a bad day after doing poorly on a radio quiz and then finding out his email is broken and has to search for a fax machine. To make matters even worse his daughter and her boyfriend and rehearsing their music loudly which he isn't too keen on. His mindset changes though when he hears they could actually make some money out of it.
-
Lead Balloon (2006)
-
4. Karma
27 Nov '08Rick decides to change his ways after an accident and will only see the positives in people from now on. He is pushed to the limits by Magda as she looks to offload some of his most treasured items, and Marty is sure it won't last. Elsewhere, Ben and Sam begin to move in a different direction and may have to split up.
-
Lead Balloon (2006)
-
5. Spikey
11 Dec '08Rick is forced to go and see a play which turns out worse than he could've imagined as the writer used to be the same level as Rick. He is happier though, to learn that his daughter is single once again until he realises who her latest love interest is.
-
Lead Balloon (2006)
-
6. Mistake
18 Dec '08Rick and Marty have to make extra room around the house when Mel has to work from home. Rick is annoyed by Marty's liking of Mel's assistant and the constant disruptions, until he realises he might be able to get a job through Mel.
-
Lead Balloon (2006)
-
7. Nuts
23 Dec '08Rick is looking forward to spending a quiet Christmas at home with Mel. It will be a well-earned break from the challenging acting role he is currently immersed in - playing the part of Mr Smee in a panto. Marty is no fan of pantomime, or of Christmas in general, and plans to head off for some winter sun - preferably to a country where carol-singing is punishable by death. Meanwhile, Michael has fallen in love at first sight with a chat room friend named Zoe and is already planning to propose on
-
