'Extras' is a sitcom written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant who had previously collaborated on the award winning 'The Office'. The show carried on over two series and followed Andy Millman, a movie extra trying to make it into the big time, the only problem is hes forty, overweight and not blessed with Johnny Depp's looks.
In the first series it follows Andy desperately trying to get a line to move a notch up the showbiz ladder although hes currently on the bottom rung. The humour is dark and a satire on the real extras business which is very shallow and humiliating, the style is changed completely from The Office and Gervais plays a different character, David Brent was arrogant but pitiful, Andy Millman is a nicer person and more relatable but still pitiful in his own right.
The gimmick of each episode is they have one or more celebrity appearing or cameoing in a 'twisted' version of themselves, usually highly self-deprecating, either they are rude, arrogant, ignorant, liars, racist, not entirely sane or a combination of all of them. Without a shadow of a doubt the best cameo of the first series is Les Dennis, the way he laughs at his own horrible situation where he was humiliated by his wife who has arguably gone onto bigger things (totally undeserved, she is completely talentless) is admirable. Other highlights include Ben Stillers appearance where he plays a tyrannical director, Ross Kemp's confrontation with Vinnie Jones, Kate Winslet's phone sex scene and Patrick Stewart. The only disappointment really was Samuel L Jackson, they just didn't have any funny dialogue for him.
Andy is very sarcastic and thats where much of the shows humour comes from, he can be very witty and quick on his feet but occasionally inexplicably talks himself into a hole and continues digging way past a man as intelligent and glib as he sometimes appears to be should allow himself to get which is one of my problems with Extras, Andy Millman just isn't very consistent as a character. His best friend Maggie Jacobs is another problem, sometimes to great comic effect, Andy uses her to try and make himself look good like when he tries to impress a new neighbour he fancies and asks Maggie to pretend to be a fan and ask for his autograph, inevitably she messes it up and makes Andy look stupid with cringeworthy results. The problem isn't Maggie's characters fault as she is written stupid but Andy continually puts Maggie in a situation where she is bound to make him look bad and he never seems to learn which again is inconsistent with his character. It gets to the stage where when he asks Maggie to do something to make him look good you're literally waiting for her to mess up and after a while it isn't funny just irritating. Also sometimes Maggie can be deliberately malicious towards Andy, she enjoys joining in when Andy is being humiliated and even laughs at him, she never seems to stick up for him which I found disappointing.
Extras two best characters in my eyes are the recurring agent Darren Lamb and Shaun Williamson or 'Barry off Eastenders' as he is usually called, who along with Andy is a client of Darren's, the only other client of Darren's it seems for he is surely the worst agent in the business. His CV for Andy sounds more like a charity appeal than a list of achievements and he even questions potential employers judgement for trying to hirer Andy. His part-time weekend job at the Carphone Warehouse just about sums him up. His sidekick Barry, who seems in even worse dire straits than Andy is desperate for work and quotes Shakespeare (horribly) on queue. These two are genuinely hilarious and deserve credit for some of the funniest moments in the show. Merchant probably doesn't get as much credit as Gervais does but those that listened to 'The Ricky Gervais Show' on xfm can attest that Merchant can actually be funnier than Gervais, his quick one liners are brilliant. Karl Pilkington deserves a mention as well, many of his quotes are ripped straight from The Ricky Gervais Show into Extras.
The second series follows Andy's rise to relative fame, except not for the great art he would have hoped and leads to more embarrassing situations featuring more celebrity guests who vary in their ability to send themselves up to comic effect. Overall this was a very funny show with some classic comedy moments but I'm glad it ended when it did, on a high in the hour-long special after the second series, which was in my opinion the funniest and certainly the most moving of the lot which was a good way to bow out. Probably not quite as funny and groundbreaking as The Office this is a very good second crack which can occasionally be disappointing after a major debut success.
8/10
In the first series it follows Andy desperately trying to get a line to move a notch up the showbiz ladder although hes currently on the bottom rung. The humour is dark and a satire on the real extras business which is very shallow and humiliating, the style is changed completely from The Office and Gervais plays a different character, David Brent was arrogant but pitiful, Andy Millman is a nicer person and more relatable but still pitiful in his own right.
The gimmick of each episode is they have one or more celebrity appearing or cameoing in a 'twisted' version of themselves, usually highly self-deprecating, either they are rude, arrogant, ignorant, liars, racist, not entirely sane or a combination of all of them. Without a shadow of a doubt the best cameo of the first series is Les Dennis, the way he laughs at his own horrible situation where he was humiliated by his wife who has arguably gone onto bigger things (totally undeserved, she is completely talentless) is admirable. Other highlights include Ben Stillers appearance where he plays a tyrannical director, Ross Kemp's confrontation with Vinnie Jones, Kate Winslet's phone sex scene and Patrick Stewart. The only disappointment really was Samuel L Jackson, they just didn't have any funny dialogue for him.
Andy is very sarcastic and thats where much of the shows humour comes from, he can be very witty and quick on his feet but occasionally inexplicably talks himself into a hole and continues digging way past a man as intelligent and glib as he sometimes appears to be should allow himself to get which is one of my problems with Extras, Andy Millman just isn't very consistent as a character. His best friend Maggie Jacobs is another problem, sometimes to great comic effect, Andy uses her to try and make himself look good like when he tries to impress a new neighbour he fancies and asks Maggie to pretend to be a fan and ask for his autograph, inevitably she messes it up and makes Andy look stupid with cringeworthy results. The problem isn't Maggie's characters fault as she is written stupid but Andy continually puts Maggie in a situation where she is bound to make him look bad and he never seems to learn which again is inconsistent with his character. It gets to the stage where when he asks Maggie to do something to make him look good you're literally waiting for her to mess up and after a while it isn't funny just irritating. Also sometimes Maggie can be deliberately malicious towards Andy, she enjoys joining in when Andy is being humiliated and even laughs at him, she never seems to stick up for him which I found disappointing.
Extras two best characters in my eyes are the recurring agent Darren Lamb and Shaun Williamson or 'Barry off Eastenders' as he is usually called, who along with Andy is a client of Darren's, the only other client of Darren's it seems for he is surely the worst agent in the business. His CV for Andy sounds more like a charity appeal than a list of achievements and he even questions potential employers judgement for trying to hirer Andy. His part-time weekend job at the Carphone Warehouse just about sums him up. His sidekick Barry, who seems in even worse dire straits than Andy is desperate for work and quotes Shakespeare (horribly) on queue. These two are genuinely hilarious and deserve credit for some of the funniest moments in the show. Merchant probably doesn't get as much credit as Gervais does but those that listened to 'The Ricky Gervais Show' on xfm can attest that Merchant can actually be funnier than Gervais, his quick one liners are brilliant. Karl Pilkington deserves a mention as well, many of his quotes are ripped straight from The Ricky Gervais Show into Extras.
The second series follows Andy's rise to relative fame, except not for the great art he would have hoped and leads to more embarrassing situations featuring more celebrity guests who vary in their ability to send themselves up to comic effect. Overall this was a very funny show with some classic comedy moments but I'm glad it ended when it did, on a high in the hour-long special after the second series, which was in my opinion the funniest and certainly the most moving of the lot which was a good way to bow out. Probably not quite as funny and groundbreaking as The Office this is a very good second crack which can occasionally be disappointing after a major debut success.
8/10