Radio Times

Occasionally, artists enjoy an "imperial phase". It's the part of their career where, after a massive hit, they can do no wrong. Critics daren't criticise them; their employers daren't interfere with their work. Then, when their abilities dwindle, nobody notices. For an example, look no further than Ricky Gervais and Extras.

The first series of Extras was an awkward mix of Office-style realism, celebrity cameos where stars hammered away at one unsubtle quirk, and bargain-basement comic misunderstanding. The main character, Andy Millman, swung wildly from frustrated everyman to boorish bumbler and, in emergencies, simply became David Brent. Outside The Office, Gervais was lost.

More worryingly, Extras was so reliant on its characters offending minorities that it looked as if Gervais and co-creator Stephen Merchant were having their cake and eating it. In interviews, Gervais tried the Alf Garnett Defence - that the show confronts taboos. But poor characterisation (we're mostly supposed to like Millman and co) and the sheer volume of off-colour gags put paid to that. The man who'd brought us the heart-melting romance of Tim and Dawn was now peddling 70s-throwback stories about how hard it is to be around gay or black people, and how funny it is when people get it wrong.

Yet this tasteless mess won two Bafta nominations, so Gervais looked down from his imperial pedestal and aired his views on showbiz. In series two, Millman was the writer/star of a sitcom, but hated his fame. Gervais was expressing how annoying it is when fans quote you and critics slate you, as if this were an original observation. But Millman let BBC executives meddle with his vision and was mocked for using cheap catchphrases - so Gervais, who was still getting rave reviews and had made The Office unhindered, was moaning about pain he wasn't even suffering. When comics play inferior versions of themselves, it usually involves self-criticism. This was gloating.

Millman's inane sitcom was meant as a spoof of popular BBC1 comedies that aren't as cool as The Office. It was more ungracious self-congratulation from Gervais, which backfired because When the Whistle Blows strongly echoed Extras itself. WTWB featured old-school clowning that, thanks to Shaun Williamson and Stephen Merchant's scenes, in fact provided Extras' rare high points. WTWB's characters were crassly non-PC - just like Andy Millman, who was still homophobic and, in one episode, actually kicked a dwarf.

Extras had become an unfunny but fascinating insight into Gervais's imperial mindset. Finally, halfway through last year's 80-minute Christmas special, jokes are jettisoned in favour of a heavy-handed, sentimental and awesomely patronising fable about meaningless celebrity - interspersed with lots of celebrity cameos. At the climax, Millman must choose between fame and credibility, because "only a few people in the world have both".

This line reminds us mortals that among those few is Ricky Gervais, who refused a part in a recent Woody Allen film when he saw who else Allen wanted to work with: they were just "British people on telly", and Gervais thinks he's beyond that. Not if he produces another shocker like Extras, he's not. Imperial phases don't last.

Gervais might well have over-stretched himself slightly with Extras, however, the story of that show is of title character Millman having written a brilliant sitcom, only for it to be dumbed down and broadened to appeal to a larger audience.

I think the best comedies are the ones that don't appeal to everyone, but in fact, draw a more cult following. This happened with The Office (although it's success brought it more mainstream), and is more evident with Extras.

I for one am thankful that Gervais does offer on-the-edge humour (as 2006hitchcockl stated previously), and I enjoy the satirical swipe at the modern celebrity culture.

For those of you who didn't enjoy Extras, that's fine. We all have things we enjoy and things we don't. I don't much like celery.

Oh my god, this blog really annoys me. Firstly, Extra's was not not meant to bear any resemblance to 'The Office'. He was going in a new direction with his comedy and i don't feel a valid comparison can be made here. Secondly, you are putting forward opinions and stating them as fact. For instance 'Gervais was expressing how annoying it is when fans quote you and critics slate you, as if this were an original observation'. Who says he was trying to be original? Thirdly Gervais thrives on 'on the edge' humour that is meant to be non-PC and make you cringe. Fourthly, the beauty of Ricky Gervais is his arrogance. He would never have have the audacity to walk into the BBC and ask to actually write and direct a show with their money and with no previous success for them to base their judgement on! So the brillance of that show would have been lost to the world. He is an extremely intelligent man who knows what is good for him and his career. If he wants to turn down a Woody Allen film then he's probably making the right decision. He may have been offered a completely uncharacteristic role or maybe, just maybe, he really is beyond that!

I think the blogger proves his eloquence but fails to prove his central point (that Extras is a poor show despite its great reviews and ratings). I watched extras and it made me laugh. Alot.

To understand it as a social satire, a comment on this or a send-up of that is really secondary to how funny it was. And, in my view and the views of millions, it was very very funny indeed.

Extras is brilliant, brilliant characters, great gags, a fabulous satire on celebrity culture and laden with pathos to tug at your heart strings as all great comedy should. Gervais is a comedy god, not only is he very funny and a good writer but he is also an excellent actor. His speech at the end of the christmas specials for me saw some of the best acting that I've seen on screen in years, just tell me you weren't moved by it and if you weren't then you are a soulless individual.

This is so typical of the British to be cynical when we someone who is a great success and all we can do is criticize. I guarantee that if this was someone else who we had never heard of who had done Extras, then no one would be critizing it.

In short, Gervais is brilliant, The Office is brilliant and Extras is brilliant. He deserves all the success he has had will receive in the future. I'm sorry if I sound like a nauseating brown-noser, but its the truth and may he long continue to create comedy that makes these cretins who slag off the show more and more jealous, and more and more angry.

I feel I have to apologise and confess that I'm not really very familiar with the work of Garry Shandling, Larry David et al; if I were, perhaps as you say I would not have thought messrs. Gervais and Merchant's work to have been so original. I have to bow to your greater knowledge in that regard, although I do still feel that G & M's celeb self-parodies in 'Extras' still stand the test of comedy excellence, even though they may not be as original as I had first believed.

I do take the point about imperial phases; indeed, I think it's a very good point in it's own right. Applying it to 'Extras', I feel, is just a little premature, but then I'm saying that because I like the show. For someone who doesn't, I can see how it would seem to apply. If G & M's next outing after 'Extras' bombs, or for that matter just doesn't appeal to me personally, then I'll probably agree with you.

What I'm not altogether clear about is the extent to which you feel that Millman was intended to be Gervais. You mention that he was 'moaning about pain he wasn't even suffering', which suggests that you do feel that Millman was deliberately intended to be a reflection of Gervais himself - and if indeed that is the case, then yes, he WAS moaning about pain that he hadn't had to suffer. However, if that is in fact the case, then I can't help but think that if Ricky wants us to think that there's a lot of him in Andy, he must not have as high an opinion of himself as you think. For all that we're supposed to be sympathetic to Andy, on many occasions he clearly comes across as a prat - which is why I think it would amuse Gervais to think that people are taking the parallel between him and his creation that seriously. Most writers have at some point in their lives either consciously or unconsciously followed that old adage 'write about what you know' - I know I have - but I'm not sure that that necessarily means that the creation is a direct reflection of the creator. There are similarities between Andy and Ricky - or at least, the Ricky we're allowed to see - but I don't think the question of where reality ends and comedy begins particularly matters. I think the test is whether or not 'Extras' would have been as well appreciated had it not been for 'The Office' : personally I think it would, but that's just my opinion, and of course it can never be proven one way or the other. It will be interesting to see what comes next, though...!

I found Gervais clever and funny when he went on to do stand up but have to say I did not find The Office the massive blast that it was made out to be, and have never finished an episode of Extras.

Thanks for your comments, everyone. Firefox: I think you make a lot of good points, but I must take issue with a couple.

You’re right that in general it’s foolish to worry too much about what performers are like in real life. But come on: Ricky Gervais, having come from nowhere to write and star in a sitcom that makes him famous, then produces a follow-up where he plays someone who comes from nowhere to write and star in a sitcom that makes them famous. Gervais has also spoken often about how important it was for him to prevent BBC executives messing around with his work, and this is central to Extras series two. Given all that, and the show’s hectoring tone, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to cite what Gervais has said in interviews, if it’s done merely to illustrate a point about the show.

Also, you say that the celebrity self-parodies in Extras were original, but I don’t think even Gervais and Merchant would claim that. The idea comes directly from The Larry Sanders Show, which is one of G+M’s favourites. Gervais even conducted an interview with the man who played Larry, Garry Shandling, a year or two ago. He did the same with another comic hero, Larry David, creator of Seinfeld/Curb Your Enthusiasm. Extras borrows its scenes where characters are embarrassed in front of minorities from Curb, but removes all nuance from the gag, as it does with the Sanders-style star cameos, reducing them simply to “Look! Orlando Bloom’s vain!”, “Look! Ross Kemp isn’t really tough!” etc etc. The Larry Sanders Show wasn’t so predictable and there was genuine edge to the way people sent themselves up; in Extras, because it’s all so cartoonish and simplified, it ends up feeling like cosy self-publicity.

I liked Extras first series - I suppose it was a bit self-congratulatory the way celebrities were prepared to make idiots of themselves, but I found it amusing and, let's be honest, aside from the well observed romance between Dawn and Tim, the Office was the same idea - "Some people are just horrible and deserve to be laughed at, or do they?"

The Office takes some beating (sorry if you were on the train to Farnborough before Christmas when I was laughing out loud at it), but Extras S1 was good, in my view.

I didn't really take to series 2, but the Xmas special was ok.

I agree that Gervais always seems to be 'on' - Playing the part - but so what...?

Nice to see he's not succumbed to flogging a dead horse, though and left Extras behind - It'll be interesting to see what comes next.

What an interesting thread. Sometimes I think I am the only person on earth to find Ricky Gervais, the Office and Extras all unfunny. I thought that gratuitious bigotry and laughing at failure to be completely cringeworthy and couldn't reach the remote quickly enough.

Not to my taste, sorry.

Personally I thought 'Extras' was brilliant, from the first show to the last scene of the Christmas special. Following something like 'The Office' is a difficult trick at best, and let's be honest, how many people thought he'd pull it off? - And how many are maybe feeling a little sick that they didn't have more faith in his ( and Stephen Merchant's ) abilities as comedy writers?

As for Ricky Gervais, the man : I don't care. I don't know if he's an arrogant jerk; I don't know if he's a nice guy pretending to be an arrogant jerk. The impression I'm most often left with when I do see him being interviewed is that he's 'on' 100% of the time - which is fine by me, it's his life. I learned a very long while ago that wanting to actually LIKE celebrities for the people they are rather than the work they do - whether it's actors, musicians, comedians, whatever - is a dangerous path to tread, not least because the reality is almost always that the real person, once you take away the glitz that sorrounds them, is probably something of a disappointment.

Which, as it happens, is all part of why I love 'Extras'. Although I would admit that it was sometimes hard to keep track of exactly where Andy Millman's head was supposed to be at any given point, apart from that, I felt it looked at the effect that celebrity has on people and illustrated that often, the extent to which their work is successful ( as in 'When The Whistle Blows' ) is directly and inversely proportional to their integrity as a human being. Was this a reflection of Gervais himself? - Once again, I don't care - I've never met the man and probably never will. My own humble opinion is that in this example as in life in general, Gervais knows exactly what he's doing : I would imagine that the idea that people think of Andy Millman as being a microcosm of Ricky Gervais would probably amuse him immensely.

Whatever else can be said about it, 'Extras' was certainly original - once again, not at all an easy trick to pull after the almost legendary originality of 'The Office'. Having celebrities parody themselves, often in a very damning light ( if you took it seriously ) was something that had never been done before - and he did it not only for the first time, but ( particularly if the Kate Winslet episode is anything to measure by ) with a stroke of sheer genius.

It amuses me that jay231104 mentions the thing about people not 'getting' Gervais' humour. It amuses me because, once again in my humble opinion, I don't think the vast majority of people WOULD suggest that someone who doesn't 'get' Gervais' humour are lacking in intelligence. The fact that he THINKS they would, I feel, speaks volumes about his own position. If you don't get the humour, you don't get the humour - intelligence isn't the issue, and once again, referring ( for example ) to THE Kate Winslet scene, I really don't think anyone - including Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant - would suggest that you need the IQ of Stephen Fry to get that.

I've always thought that the mark of a truly great sitcom is the ability to go from the peak of humour to the trough of pathos and sadness in the blink of an eye. 'Only Fools and Horses' had it down to a 'T'. 'One Foot In The Grave' mastered it. 'Friends' and 'Frasier' from across the pond were also excellent examples. Whether or not one considers 'Extras' to be of the same calibre of any of these, is bound to be in the eyes of the beholder, and I don't care to venture my own opinion in that regard, but I would say one thing in closing :

Any sitcom that refers to the so-called 'reality' shows like Big Brother, Celebrity BB, X Factor and so forth, by saying 'The Victorian freak show never went away' has got my vote every day and twice on Sundays.

I literally cant believe there is an article entitled "Why I hate extras" I agree ricky gervais is not a stand up comedian I did not enjoy his "politics" dvd but he is an amazing actor and naturally funny - all performers work in different ways and if he cant adlib than that doesnt make him less funny he has a good mixture of humour and emotion to his work[referring to the office and extras] I absolutely loved series 1 & 2 of extras if you ever been involved in "The business" you will recognise a lot of the issues that are highlighted in these two series. As for the extras xmas special I absolutely loved it and cant wait for it to come out on DVD!

While I'm not a massive Ricky Gervaise fan - certainly, his stand-up stuff is pretty ordinary - there's no getting away from the fact that the work he did with The Office was observational genius. OK, maybe Extras didn't live up to that, but really, how could it?

However, to hear the likes of LilDarkPoet say "the man's talent is wafer-thin" is ridiculous; whoever you are, I'm embarrassed for you.

Presumably you are about to post some of your poetry on here and show us what real talent is?

I thought the final episode was littered with vanity and ironies. Indeed, Millman was that desperate to stay in the celeb game that he was prepared to go on Celeb Big Brother...from which he launched a massive attack (ironically) on the vacuous nature of modern celebrity. Gervais exhibits a good deal of hubris overall.

Indeed, if things don't go too well for Gervais in the US, is it not beyond the realms of possibility that he'll be facing the CBB trail by humiliation within five years? The emperer's new clothes...

Personally I find Gervais as funny as scabies. Quite how he has managed to achieve the status he has is quite beyond me: the man's talent is wafer-thin! Imperial phases are dangerous as none of the parties notices when things start to slide. If it's true that we have a "built them up and knock them down" culture here, is that not better than just accepting that the talentless are somehow geniuses that not everyone 'gets'? Is it not better to have a cynical view of celebdom here than the one in place in the US where they're seen as gods?

I'm a big fan of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant; the office was in my opinion amongst the finest things ever produced by British TV. And he's no one-trick pony; his radio shows, podcasts and stand-up are consistently funny.

Having said all that, I completely agree with your assessment of Extras. It is mediocre and has absolutely no hope of leaving a lasting impression (will anyone care when we've all forgotten who Ross Kemp/Les Dennis are?). The almost desperate parade of celebrities could hardly disguise the lack of a solidly funny script or believable characters - it is hard to believe that this was produced by the same people as were behind the office.

Ricky Gervais is a talented, funny man and he remains one of my favourite comedians. That cannot change the fact that Extras was an extremely forgettable program which no-one should miss.

it is no wonder that ricky wants to go and work in the states. he and stephen merchant create one of the funniest and heartwarming sitcoms ever seen on british tv... and follow that up with a timely comedy on the current obsession with celebrity and fame, and all people can do it moan about it because they don't find that particular type of intelligent comedy funny.

they don't win these awards for nothing.

and to think that ricky is arrogant is to miss the point. he's done very well for himself, and why shouldn't he make light of that. he is a comedian!

ricky and stephen will probably go of to america where they appreciate them, and that will be a huge loss for all of us in the u.k.

and i'm sure they'll get stick for doing that to.

if they do, i wish them all the luck. they are brilliant writers, and deserve all the acclaim they've had.

My views on Mr Gervais have nothing whatsoever to do with "political correctness". They have everything to do with just not finding him funny.

And so it seems that once again Ricky Gervais has come under fire due to a loss in understanding of the irony that has made British comedy as widely-respected as it is today.

It cannot be disputed that Gervais has become more sure of himself, in a way which so often seems, and may well be, arrogant, but is this really surprising of a man who created a modern classic with The Office.

Merchant and Gervais are a writing team that are undoubtedly good at what they do. Their writing epitomises the goal of the sitcom, taking a situation and extrapolating it into the realms of comedy. Yet British sitcoms are unique for the simple reason that they do not spoon feed their laughter. And the Office, and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Extras, have succeeded in emulating this for the 21st Century.

It cannot be argued that Extras is anywhere near as good as the Office. It has its moments, Merchant's scenes in particular, but it will never be the as well-loved or remembered as The Office. However Extras is not the train-wreck you describe. After floundering slightly in series 1, it found it's feet in series 2 and became a sitcom that, while may not be classic, is surely above and beyond many of the sitcoms we see today. Yes it confronts taboos and prejudices that were addressed in 70's sitcoms, but in a more up to date way. It uses the modern obsession with 'celebrity' and manipulates that to tackle those issues, which certainly do still exist in society today, as in the 70's, and it tackles them from a humorous angle.

By complaining that Gervais and Merchant have used their 'imperial phase' to create a sitcom that is based almost solely on celebrity cameo's is unfair. If they had tried to create the series with the same situation, but without the celebrity appearances, the show would have seemed unrealistic and far-fetched, and his critics would simply have argued that they thought it was above themselves to use cameos. What the pair have instead done is use what they have achieved to create a world with more depth and reality in which to portray their storylines.

Gervais has always avoided appearing on television too much, wanting to avoid being another celebrity who is aways on television, doing whatever they can to be noticed. Clearly then by depicting such acts, and such celebrity obsession through Extras, these are clearly meant to be seen as ironical, sideway looks at the craze, and exaggerate it to the point where it provides humour too.

So in Extras we see a dwarf kicked in the head, homophobia and racism. But at no point is it these prejudices which are supposed to be the foundation of the gag. It is instead the cringeworthy responses to the situations. In all these situations, the humour is derived from being unsure of how to act in a situation where our prejudices are on the verge of being exposed, situations where we have to decide whether to allow our prejudices to stand in our own ways; for example, whether Millman can cope with working with his unashamedly homosexual producer.

I do not believe I am a Gervais 'posterior kisser', unless by which you mean I admire his talent, wit, and genuine comedy talent, in which case I also much enjoy kissing the posteriors of such men as John Cleese and Rowan Atkinson. However I believe that Gervais, and of course Merchant, really are two of the most talented comedy actors, scriptwriters and directors that our country currently posseses, and that this must not be forgotten. Their sitcoms have entertained millions around the world and if you wish to ignore this in aid of being politically correct, then I for one am happy to be looked down upon from your moral, but surely quite uninteresting, high grounds.

Thank goodness for someone else who sees shades of "Emperor's New Clothes" with Mr Gervais. Having never discovered what's supposed to be so funny about him, an unfortunate (thankfully brief) actual meeting proved what I had long suspected about his attitude to us lesser mortals.

The sooner his self-inflated bubble bursts the better. I wonder if one of the reasons he wins awards from his peers is that he provides so many opportunites for them to make cameos! Wouldn't be good business to bite the hand......

Oh and please, if any of his fans use that tired old line that those of us who don't "get" him are in some way lacking in intelligence - the fact that this is the ONLY reposte you can ever come back with to support your view speaks volumes and actually makes me glad I'm not part of the Gervais posterior kissers.

Most insightful. You've managed to articulate precisely what's wrong with Gervais. Now all we need is a link to the video of him performing that pathetic dance at the Concert for Diana, and I think the veil's nicely wrenched away from him...