Blessed be HBO for giving Ricky Gervais’s comedies a shot here in America. The show that made him famous, Extras, was given this blessing, and now his current show, Life’s Too Short, has also been given this blessing. Despite one being over 5 years old and the other in the middle of its American release, I’ve been given and taken the opportunity to watch both of these shows in their entirity, and can say despite his relatively negative stereotype here in America, Gervais has had a rather large influence in comedy today and can still deliver a comedic punch in true dry, British humor fashion. Hear about my adventures into these two BBC telecasts below.
Extras (2005-2007)
Before Gervais’s relatively big break as a household name, he and other British comedic icon Stephen Merchant starred, wrote, and directed in this sitcom about the life of two film extras and their love/professional lives as they, on some occasions, bump into A-list actors. The A-listers are true hollywood icons like Ben Stiller and Orlando Bloom and actually play themselves in the movie the episode is based around. On some occasions these A-listers mingle with the extras, and that’s where the comedy comes into play. I like to divide each episode of this show into two major parts.
The first part revolves around the extras themselves, Andy Millmann (Gervais) and Maggie Jacobs (Ashley Jensen). Millmann’s character is an ambitious extra who constantly fights for screen time and lines, even if it means embarrassing himself or playing dirty. The character himself is very common in Gervais-esque characters. Awkward, mean, selfish, and quick-witted. Jacobs character is another awkward duck, often finding herself in uncomfortable positions as she tries to date every man she sees. She often gets caught up in a physical deformity/feature of her love interest, whether it be a man with one leg longer than the other or even a black man. These often make fantastic awkward situations, for example, trying to prove to Samuel L. Jackson that she isn’t racist towards black people.
The second part of this show mainly revolves around the A-listers themselves. The actors play extremely dramatized and absurd versions of themselves. Kate Winslet is an obscene woman who has endless advice on how to talk dirty on the phone. Ben Stiller is a narcissistic prick who thinks he can solve 3rd world atrocities with his Dodgeball films. With others ranging from Coldplay’s Christ Martin to Patrick Stewart, Gervais’s ability to actually get actors to portray these amazing roles is amazing and surprisingly fresh.
Of course, with all British television, there’s a always an ending season. Unlike American television, British television and the BBC set up a distinct number of episodes to air and will immediately end on that note, no matter how popular the show might be. Given if Extras was an American television show, continuity would rather be based on ratings and numbers. And while more Extras would’ve been great, it’s always good to see a show end on high point so we can always think of it that way, unlike when you see once amazing American television shows like the Office and Friends get the ‘beating a dead horse’ treatment. Since then, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have created and starred in a number of television shows and specials thanks to the extreme creativity and laugh out loud nature of this series. Which brings us to their current project as can be read on page 2.
Page 2 for Life’s Too Short
Banana Scoop 
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