Chanel 4 has announced a brand new comedy series called Hang Ups, with an impressive all star cast behind it, taking a sideways slant at the inside of a therapist’s office. Led by Stephen Mangan (The Birthday Party), the cast includes Richard E. Grant (Logan), David Tennant (Good Omens) and Kathryn Parkinson (Humans Series 3), so there’s a real mix of comedy and more serious acting experience in the mix.
The series is essentially an adaptation of the Emmy-nominated US show Web Therapy, which was created by Lisa Kudrow, Dan Bucatinsky and Don Roos. It originally aired online back in 2008 and went on to release 67 episodes, so there could be a lot of material for the Channel 4 comedy.
Release
Channel 4 confirmed that Hang Ups has just finished filming as of the yesterday (2nd October 2017), so it isn’t too far from being ready to air. However, it also confirmed that it won’t be arriving until 2018, so we’re expecting it to be the first few months of the year. We’ll update with more information when it’s announced.
Story
The six-part series centres on therapist Richard Pitt, who has had a few set-backs in recent times. He does all that he can to help his clients, but his own life is slowly going down the pan, so he’s pretty much fighting a battle on two fronts the entire time.
Cast
The show takes the role that Lisa Kudrow played in Web Therapy and throws Stephen Mangan into the cauldron as troubled therapist Richard Pitt. His clients and colleagues include Richard E. Grant, Jessica Hynes (Bridget Jones’s Baby), David Tennant, Katherine Parkinson, Karl Theobald (Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa), Arsher Ali (Four Lions), Celia Imrie (Bridget Jones’s Baby) and Paul Ritter (Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams).
The cast will also feature Charles Dance (Pride And Prejudice And Zombies), Tolu Ogunmefun (Drifters), Monica Dolan (Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge), Sarah Hadland (Miranda), Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones), Lolly Adefope (Loaded), John Macmillan (Back) and Harry Lloyd (The Theory Of Everything). It’s looking like a pretty big production from Channel 4 with such a significant cast.
Production
Robert Delamere has directed Hang Ups with Louise Delamere producing and Kevin Loader and Stephen Mangan serving as executive producers with Mangan’s Slam Films heading up the delivery of the comedy. The show has been written by Mangan and Robert Delamere, so they’ve both been pretty instrumental in bringing it to Channel 4.
First impressions
Stephen Mangan rarely fails to deliver great comedy TV and with such a big name cast, Hang Ups sounds like it could be one of the must-see shows on Channel 4 in 2018. He’s also going to be starring in the West End production of Harold Pinter’s The Birthday Party early next year, so he’s going to be pretty busy.
Jessica Hynes, Katherine Parkinson and Monica Dolan have had some great comedy roles over the years with the likes of Spaced, The IT Crowd and W1A, so there’s bound to be a lot of great humour, especially with the darker humour of the story. Parkinson has also had some strong serious roles with her part in Humans, so she should be able to bring a lot of gravity to the show, alongside other serious actors like Richard E. Grant, David Tennant and Charles Dance.
