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Lead Balloon is a sitcom co written by Jack Dee and Pete Sinclair. The series which has recently started its third series, is produced by Open Mike Productions for the BBC, and has aired on both BBC Two and BBC Four.

The comedy takes its name from the saying "To go down like a lead balloon", a UK version of the original American saying "To go over like a lead balloon", which means to fail completely in front of the public.

Lead Balloon Characters

Jack Dee plays the lead role of Rick Spleen, a world weary London based comedian whose life is full of let downs, frustration and annoyances. Rick struggles to get the recognition or the gigs he believes he is due and so has to host corporate events like the Heating and Ventilation Awards. Rick is forever getting into trouble due mostly to his inability to be honest, with his fabrications invariably being found out.

The series revolves around 5 main characters, Rick, Rick's partner Mel (played by Raquel Cassidy) a talent agents whose clients' success is at odds with Ricks, Rick's co-writer Marty (played by Sean Power), an American who writes most of the material for Rick, Michael (played by Tony Gardner) the owner of the cafe that Rick frequently inhabits and Magda (played by Anna Crilly) Rick's housekeeper for the Spleen household.

The comedy is autobiographical in nature, with Jack Dee admitting that Rick Spleen is a version of himself who might have existed if he hadn't had both some breaks and the ability to get over knocks along the way.

Lead Balloon Broadcasts

The first series of Lead Balloon aired on BBC 4 on 4 October 2006 and was an immediate success resulting in a repeat run on BBC 2 and on BBC High Definition. The later run giving Lead Balloon the distinction of being the first comedy series to run on BBC HD. The original series ran for six episodes with the episodes entitled, Rubbish, Wayne, £5,000, Allergic, Pistachio and Fatty and was nominated for a British Comedy Award, losing out to Gavin and Stacey.

The second series which was also commissioned by the BBC, ran for eight episodes and commenced its run on 15 November 2007 with an episode entitled Giraffe. The series expanded on the characters throughout the run with the remaining seven episodes entitled Hero, Points, Idiot, Sick, Debacle, Rita and Lucky

A further third series commenced its run on BBC Two on 13 November 2008.

Lead Balloon Reviews

Lead Balloon has been likened by critics to the American series, Curb Your Enthusiasm, starring Larry David the Seinfeld writer and co-creator. Although not considered to be as autobiographical in nature as the latter. Jack Dee has admitted that Curb Your Enthusiasm was a "cultural influence" but has stated that the show has its roots in the twenty years of stand up he has performed.

Lead Balloon DVD

The first series of Lead Balloon was released on DVD on 12 November 2007.  The second series was released on DVD on 24 November 2008 as was a combination DVD which combined Series 1 and Series 2.