''Free Agents'' is a romantic

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

starring

Stephen Mangan Stephen James Mangan (born 16 May 1968) is a British actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in '' Green Wing'', Dan Moody in '' I'm Alan Partridge'', Seán Lincoln in ''Episodes'', Bigwig in ''Watership Down'', Postma ...

Sharon Horgan Sharon Lorencia Horgan (born ) is an Irish actress, writer, director, producer, and comedian. She is best known for creating and starring in the comedy series '' Pulling'' (2006–2009), '' Catastrophe'' (2015–2019), and '' Bad Sisters'' (2022 ...

and

Anthony Head Anthony Stewart Head (born 20 February 1954) is an English actor and singer. Primarily a performer in musical theatre, he rose to fame in the UK in the 1980s following his role in the Gold Blend couple television advertisements for Nescafé, ...

. Originally a pilot for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in November 2007, the series began on 13 February 2009. It spawned a short lived American remake, which was cancelled after just 4 episodes aired, although 4 more were later released on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

Plot

Alex Taylor (Mangan) works for CMA, a successful

talent agency A talent agency is a company that represents actors, authors, musicians, model (person), models, professional athlete, athletes, writers, dancers, and other professionals in various industries. Talent agencies specialize, either by creating dep ...

. Whilst he is grateful for his job, he is currently going through a messy divorce, causing him to become depressed. His boss however, Stephen Cauldwell (Head), is sex-obsessed, cocksure and roguish. Alex later meets Helen Ryan (Horgan), a co-worker who is more successful and herself recovering from a messy relationship, after her boyfriend died months before her wedding.

Production

The series is produced by Big Talk Productions and Bwark Productions and is written by Chris Niel. It was formed as part of Channel 4's 2007 ''

Comedy Showcase ''Comedy Showcase'' is a series of one-off comedy specials featuring some of Britain's fledgling comedy talent. Its format is reminiscent of the much earlier television series '' Playhouse''. The format was replaced in 2012 by ''4Funnies''.Khals ...

'' along with '' Plus One'' and ''

The Kevin Bishop Show ''The Kevin Bishop Show'' is a sketch comedy written by and starring English comedian Kevin Bishop, part of the ''Star Stories'' team. The show was commissioned by Channel 4 for a six-part series starting on 25 July 2008 at 10 p.m. A pilot was b ...

'', both of which were given their own series. The show was originally entitled ''Bitter and Twisted''. The series started on 13 February and ended on 20 March. Shortly before the final episode aired, Mangan told a reporter that he and the rest of the cast were hoping to make a second series.

Episodes

Reception

The pilot attracted positive reviews. David Chater in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' said, "There is a good deal of snappy banter between the two (Mangan and Horgan), but Anthony Head as their boss steals the show as a pervy old goat out of whose mouth pours an unending stream of uncensored filth. It’s like being confronted by an erection on screen – more amazing than shocking." Gareth McLean in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' said, "There's little funnier than other people's emotional damage and the consequent mess they make of things, so Chris Niel's tale of two colleagues - he an estranged dad, she lately availed of a dead fiance - who have casual sex and have to deal with the aftermath is very funny indeed." When the series was first broadcast, the ''

Sunday Express The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet ...

'' attacked the show because of bad language, claiming that the word "

cunt "Cunt" () is a vulgar word for the vulva in its primary sense, and it is used in a variety of ways, including as a term of disparagement. "Cunt" is often used as a disparaging and obscene term for a woman in the United States, an unpleas ...

" was used three times and "

fuck ''Fuck'' () is profanity in the English language that often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested ...

" 22 times. John Beyer from Mediawatch said, "The obscene language in this programme is appalling by any standard. It shows a disregard of public concern that is completely unacceptable from a public service broadcaster."

International broadcasts

References

External links

* * *{{British Comedy Guide, tv, free_agents 2000s British sitcoms 2009 British television series debuts 2009 British television series endings Television series by Big Talk Productions Channel 4 sitcoms Comedy Showcase British English-language television shows Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Banijay