| Lead Balloon | |
|---|---|
 Lead Balloon Series 1 title card. The misspelling of "balloon" was a genuine mistake by director Alex Hardcastle.[1] | |
| Genre | Sitcom |
| Created by | Jack Dee Pete Sinclair |
| Directed by | Alex Hardcastle |
| Starring | Jack Dee Raquel Cassidy Sean Power Anna Crilly Antonia Campbell-Hughes Tony Gardner Rasmus Hardiker |
| Ending theme | "One Way Road" by Paul Weller/Written by Noel Gallagher |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 27 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Addison Cresswell Andrew Beint Lucy Lumsden |
| Producer | Alex Hardcastle |
| Editor | Russell Beeden |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | approx. 29 minutes |
| Production company | Open Mike Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Four (2006) BBC Two (2007–2011) |
| Release | 4 October 2006 – 5 July 2011 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Lead Balloon is a British sitcom 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. The second series of eight episodes aired on BBC Two from November 2007; the third series aired from November 2008; and the final series aired from 31 May 2011 until 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 Anna Crilly's Magda, the Eastern European housekeeper.[2] The first series was released on DVD on the 12th of November 2007. The show's theme tune is a cover version of "One Way Road", written by Noel Gallagher and performed by Paul Weller.
- ^ Hardcastle, Alex (2007). Lead Balloon: Series One DVD audio commentary for "Rubbish" (DVD). 2 entertain Video Ltd.
- ^ "Lead Balloon press clippings". British Comedy Guide.