Rick Spleen

Last updated
Rick Spleen
First appearance"Rubbish"
Created by Jack Dee and Pete Sinclair
Portrayed by Jack Dee
In-universe information
GenderMale
Occupation Comedian
SpouseMelanie "Mel" Davis
ChildrenSam (daughter)

Rick Spleen (born Richard Shaw) is a character in the BBC situation comedy Lead Balloon , played by comedian Jack Dee. Spleen is a world-weary comedian who is forced to make ends meet by hosting corporate events.

Contents

Character profile

Rick is a short-tempered, impatient comedian who struggles to find worthwhile gigs or appearances. He spends a lot of his time writing jokes for corporate events with his friend and writer, Marty who always does far more work than Rick.

He lives in a typical London suburb house with partner Mel and daughter Sam. He is a stubborn, incompetent liar, who often attempts to avoid paying professionals by performing a task himself. He also passes off many of Marty's jokes as his own, and always aims to take credit for other people's work. In episode 2 of Season 3, "Panda", it is revealed that Spleen's real name is Richard Shaw, which caused him much grief at school due to it being shortened to 'rickshaw,' after the Chinese/Japanese transport Rickshaw.

Dee and Sinclair have said that they based the character of Spleen on "comedians who hated being comedians" with whom Dee performed as he was starting his career as a stand-up comic. [1]

Relationships with other characters

Marty

Spleen often makes fun and insults his American writer Marty, and Marty returns the gesture. However, it is made clear that the two are great friends, despite their on-going bickering. How much the pair need each other is made especially obvious in the final episode of Season 2, "Lucky", where, after Spleen accuses him of lacking ambition, Marty receives a call from America asking him to write in Hollywood. Spleen is upset but tries not to let his feelings show. However, Marty returns and decides to continue writing with Spleen.

Marty often acts as 'the good guy' when Rick sets off on his usual activity of insulting people. For example, when Spleen has an argument with Michael, the café owner, or with Magda, his Eastern-European cleaner, Marty defends them rather than backing Spleen, which appears to wind him up even more.

Mel

Mel, who works as an agent for TV performers, and Rick are partners and have a teenage daughter, Sam. However, Rick still lies to Mel to make himself look better, for example in "£5,000", after Rick is detained by police for aggravating an officer, he claims that he was "being too funny".

It appears that Mel is the only character who understands Rick, and accepts his ways, often agreeing with him or humouring him.

Magda

Rick barely tolerates the family's Eastern-European cleaner Magda. He often piles a lot of work on her and then takes the credit, for example in the season one episode "Fatty", Rick tells Magda to return a lost cat and then keeps the reward. Rick regularly gets into arguments with Magda and blames her often. He also treats her as slightly less human than everyone else, as she is from a less developed ex-Communist country, and constantly corrects her accented pronunciation of everyday words such as "sale" in which she says "sell" and "unhappy" when she says "unhippy."

In the first two episodes of Series 3, Magda has to stay in Rick's house, much to Rick's dismay. He constantly complains of her making noise, filling the fridge with her food and the fact that she has placed a fridgemagnet on the fridge amongst other things. In the series 3 episode "Karma", Rick is kind to Magda, which unnerves her. However, at the end of the episode he falls back into his ways of arguing with her.

Michael

Michael, owner of the local cafe, annoys Rick often. Michael sees Rick as a friend, however Rick does not return the sentiment. Rick often calls Michael mad, especially after he starts therapy. Rick accidentally injures Michael in the episode "£5,000", when he drives into him in his car. This results in Michael not being able to take part in the sponsored skip.

In series 3, after Mel drunkenly reveals Michael's father is gay, Rick and Marty go to Michael's home to check up on him, a gesture Michael appreciates.

Ben and Sam

Sam, Rick's daughter, and Ben, her boyfriend, often irritate Rick by asking for money from him and then wasting it. Ben annoys Rick the most, for example when he breaks Rick's DVD player after taking the back cover off and thereby breaking the security seal thus invalidating the warranty.

In series 3, Ben stays at Rick's home for an episode. Rick is annoyed by the constant loud music coming from Sam's room, as they practice for their band, 'Ben and Sam.' However, when it is revealed that an advertising agency wants to use the duo's song "Tragic", which was put up on YouTube, Rick changes his mind and starts enjoying the music.

Ben and Sam temporarily broke up in the fourth episode of series 3, which also ended their band's run.

Production notes

Jack Dee, who plays Spleen, is the co-creator and one of the executive producers of Lead Balloon , therefore he writes his own part with the help of co-writer Pete Sinclair.

Related Research Articles

Jack Dee English comedian and actor (born 1961)

James Andrew Innes Dee, known professionally as Jack Dee, is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter and writer known for his sarcasm, irony and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom Lead Balloon and hosts the panel show I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue.

Mel Tormé American recording artist

Melvin Howard Tormé, nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells.

<i>The Hughleys</i> American sitcom

The Hughleys is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 22, 1998 to April 28, 2000 and on UPN from September 11, 2000 to May 20, 2002. It starred comedian D. L. Hughley as the main character, Darryl Hughley, and Elise Neal as Yvonne, his hard-working wife, who move their family from the inner city to suburban Los Angeles.

<i>Oggy and the Cockroaches</i> French animated comedy series

Oggy and the Cockroaches is a French comedy animated television series produced by Gaumont Multimedia and Xilam Animation, and created by Jean-Yves Raimbaud, co-creator of Space Goofs, who died during production of Oggy's first season. The show employs silent comedy: characters either do not speak, or use unintelligible vocalizations and gestures. The show premiered in September 1998 on France 3, and later expanded internationally.

<i>Traders</i> (TV series)

Traders is a Canadian television drama series, which was broadcast on Global Television Network from 1996 to 2000 and CBC Television from 1997 to 1998. The series centred on the employees of Gardner Ross, an investment bank in the Bay Street financial district of Toronto, Ontario.

The A-List (novel series)

The A-List is a series of young adult novels by Zoey Dean. The series, about a group of rich friends who live in Beverly Hills, has ten books, with the first eponymous novel being released under the Little, Brown imprint Poppy. A spin-off series with new characters titled The A-List: Hollywood Royalty was released in January 2009.

<i>Hotel Babylon</i> (BBC series) 2006-2009 British television drama series

Hotel Babylon is a British television drama series based on the 2004 book of the same name by Imogen Edwards-Jones, that aired from 19 January 2006 to 14 August 2009, produced by independent production company Carnival Films for BBC One. The show followed the lives of workers at a glamorous five-star hotel.

<i>Lead Balloon</i> British television series

Lead Balloon is a British 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.

Sean Power (actor) Canadian actor, writer, and director (born 1974)

Sean Power is a Canadian actor, writer, and director. Known primarily for his role as Marty, in which he starred opposite Jack Dee in the BBC comedy series Lead Balloon.

<i>Reaper</i> (TV series)

Reaper is an American comedy television series that focuses on Sam Oliver, a "reaper" who works for the Devil by retrieving souls that have escaped from Hell.

Rick Miller is a Canadian director, actor, comedian, musician and playwright, currently living in Toronto. He has two architecture degrees from McGill University in Montreal, and has performed in 5 languages on 5 continents. Although primarily known as a solo theatre creator and performer, Miller is also known for hosting the television series Just for Laughs and for performing a version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" during which he impersonates "twenty five of the most annoying voices in the music industry". His solo show BOOM was the most presented play in Canada in 2015–16, and will be playing in Europe and the United States in 2019–20. The GenX sequel to BOOM - BOOM X - premiered in January 2019 and is now on tour across Canada.

Anna Crilly is an English actress and comedienne.

<i>Olivia</i> (TV series)

Olivia is a British-American-Irish children's computer-animated comedy television series produced by media company Chorion and based on Ian Falconer's books, after its first live-action TV series, The Olivia Squared TV Show. The series won a silver Parents' Choice Award for its positive storylines and characters. The series premiered on January 26, 2009 on Nick Jr. and aired episodes through October 29, 2015. 40 episodes were produced.

References