Lead Balloon

2006 • BBC

4.4

17 reviews

Rating

Eligible

Season 1 episodes (6)

1 Rubbish

10/4/06

Rick fronts a lame government TV recycling campaign which backfires spectacularly. He falls out with cafe-owner Michael over a homemade fruitcake, and has a full-on row with unhinged baby-present shopkeeper Maureen.

2 Wayne

10/11/06

A teaspoon crisis in the Spleen household leads Rick to petty theft. Meanwhile, Rick's sleep is disturbed by the paperboy Wayne, who is very punctual, very noisy and has a brain the size of a walnut.

3 5000 Pounds

10/18/06

Rick gets in a punch-up at an awards ceremony and ends up with a black eye. Marty is preparing to pitch a programme to the BBC and Michael is delighted that Rick has accidentally sponsored him a small fortune for his 'Skipathon'.

4 Allergic

10/25/06

Rick discovers he may have inadvertently killed one of Britain's best-loved entertainers, but he's preoccupied by a missing shoe-organiser. Then Rick has to prepare for his upcoming appearance on topical news panel show 'Bullet in the News'.

5 Pistachio

11/1/06

Rick buys himself a scooter but worries that it makes him look gay. Hosting the Air Conditioning and Climate Control Awards goes disastrously, and a trip to the local dry cleaner ends in a heated argument.

6 Fatty

11/8/06

Rick is publicly humiliated on TV by daytime chat-show host Adam Green. He also has an unfortunate encounter with an acquaintance at the gym, and Ben manages to destroy Rick's brand new DVD player by taking the back off.

About this show

Comedian Rick Spleen's career has not gone the way he had planned, hosting corporate events and appearing on second-rate daytime chat shows was not meant to be part of the plan. Worse still, he's stuck with a lousy stage name that he chose twenty years ago. Whether he is being accused of putting on weight, suspected of being gay or worried about accidentally poisoning another performer, Rick combines a mass of neuroses and petty grievances with a terrible propensity for lying.

Ratings and reviews

4.4

17 reviews

Barry Ward

August 30, 2015

Superb! Hilarious, fantastic characters, and Jack Dee is at his best here. One of my favourite comedy series, and it deserves more awareness.

Earth Angel

August 17, 2015

Give this a chance... Great characters, storylines and of course Jack Dee's wonderful dry humour!!!

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