Extras

Every so often, England hits the comedic mark and creates a benchmark to which all else must aspire; Monthy Python, Dad's Army, Fawlty Towers, Only Fools and Horses and, of course, the simply faultless "The Office". The writing team of Gervais and Merchant crafted in that series some of the most achingly funny and desperately well observed depictions of the human condition ever committed to film. "The Office" struck a particular chord with me because I have spent most of my adult life in sales and they nailed the highs and lows of that career brilliantly.

Moving on then to their new offering; "Extras", I am happy to report that the observational skills have not deserted them. This time the central character (Andy Millman) is again played by Ricky Gervais, only, unlike his David Brent character, Millman is astute, caring and worth the time of day. Unforutnately, like Brent, he is also trapped in a spiral of underachievement.

Andy Millman is an film extra, a background artiste, who aspires to a real acting role and the central theme of each episode is his quest for a "line" in each film in which he appears in the background. Along side him is his (seemingly) only friend, a frustrated thirty something woman, Maggie Jacobs (superbly played by Ashley Jensen), whose sole aim seems to be to find a husband / longterm partner. Add into this mix a chronically crap agent (Merchant himself), a nemesis in the shape of another extra who seems to be getting lines and a liberal sprinkling of cameoing "A" list guest stars and you have a wonderful platform on which to build a spankingly funny series.

And wow... do they hit a home run! Every second of each episode is deliciously funny and acutely observed. Highlights to look out for are the Ben Stiller/Dodgeball opening weekend grosses scene - the Golly scene in Maggie's apartment - the "Are you really a Catholic scene" and, above anything you will have ever seen in a TV comedy, the entire Les Dennis episode.

Les Dennis will be lost on Americans but for those of us who have followed his plunging career, you can only weep for this superbly written and judged performance. Pathos doesn't even begin to cover it.

Also, anyone who can look at Kate Winslet again without thinking of that "phone sex" scene is a better man than me.

Please, please, watch "Extras". It may, for some, be an acquired taste but once you have that taste, its like a piece of Swiss chocolate - exquisite.

And no laugh track either - yay England.

It seems odd that the knives are being sharpened so quickly - one episode and, for some, it's all over bar the lynching. What price comedic success, eh…? Like everybody, I thought The Office was pure comedy gold. The premise was so strong that even the US offering couldn't fail. So, this time up, what has Ricky Gervais got for us? Well, more of the same only different. 'Extras' is in the same mould as The Office, there are those cringe worthy moments that we've all grown to love and expect...but there's a clever twist on the formula. The Gervaise character isn't the butt of all of the jokes this time around. Sure, the scene in the trailer with the crying eastern European reminded one of the fake sacking of Dawn and the scene towards the end at the party with the racial slurs was pure Brent, but more often than not Andy was observer and rye commentator on what was going on around him. This would simply have been beyond David Brent's self obsessed nature.

All in all, 'Extras' has what it takes and I await the next episode with great anticipation.

I think the genre of the movie is not clear to all... This is FAR from your normal comedy. It's borderline dramatic. You'll get to gigel and even laugh yourself to tears but the genius of the show doesn't lie here. It's the awkward moments and the depressing ones that make this show like no other.

I find myself sometimes wishing that Andy would find a new best friend, a new agent or at least a small break but the awkward comedy that follows always leaves me wanting for more, wanting to see how much he can take before he breaks.

The sadness that sometimes appears in Andy's eyes reminds us of all the unfortunes we had to go through in our lives. But he stands strong and so do we, just waiting to "have a laugh".

The ending fits perfectly with the theme of the show. "Tea for the Tillerman" offers a strangely thin comfort until the next time it will play, maybe under somewhat better circumstances (witch never really happens). I really think there is no better show to watch after a hard day at work. It always leaves you satisfied. So chin up Andy and do the magic that you do and maybe one day it will all be worth it!

Gervais had a big task on his hands with this project- The Office has now entered into comedy history, and people had very high hopes for his follow-up. The documentary style has been ditched, and Gervais has given his character just a little more dignity than he gave David Brent, so the comedy is a little less squeamish. The changes in direction and style are daring and pay off- the show doesn't feel like a desperate follow up or imitation of The Office. In fact, it's highly original.

It's a pitch black satire, which follows the efforts of Gervais's character as he attempts to progress from being an extra to actually getting a real acting job, or at least a line. The shows also charts his female friend's unsuccessful love-life, his deadpan agent and parodies a celebrity every week. This week it was the turn of Ben Stiller, who was mocked as an evil dictator of a man, who constantly reminds those around him of the box office of his movies and insists that kissing Cameron Diaz "still counts", even though it was for a movie. Stiller is a good sport for joining in, and has fun messing with his image.

Overall the show is gently paced, well written and shows extremely high potential for character study. Definitely one to watch.

STILLER: DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM!? GERVAIS: Starsky or Hutch- I can never remember. STILLER: Was that supposed to be funny? GERVAIS: You were in it- you tell me.

"Extras" is another comedic highlight from the men who thought up "The Office". One might think that the success of their previous show put too much pressure on them to come up with a new project as brilliant and hilarious, but they pulled it off. "Extras" is every bit as funny "The Office". The humour is actually very similar with people talking themselves into uncomfortable situations all the time. I think that it's the new setting that turned off a lot of people who have written negative reviews. "The Office" gave us regular guys and something to identify with. A dead end job in a dead end town, gray routine and idiotic colleagues. To laugh about this all too realistic situation had a curative effect on audiences all around the world. With "Extras" it's different. I'm sure that this show is close to reality, too, but only the fewest people have ever worked as extras and can put themselves into the shoes of struggling actors Andy Millman and Maggie Jacobs. If you just accept that this show isn't "The Office" anymore and that there's no Gareth, Tim or Dawn, you'll find out that "Extras" has a lot to offer, too.

Every episode starts with a dramatic scene in Hollywood-style that's dismantled after a moment with someone yelling "cut" or Andy Millman's face popping up in the picture. Each episode also has a different guest star. With the success of "The Office" Gervais and Merchant (who plays a regular part in this series as well) managed to gather some big names for this project. Ben Stiller, Kate Winslet and Patrick Stewart all make very amusing cameos, but it's the British local heroes who really steal the show.

With only 6 episodes (so far) the first season ended way too quickly and I already long for the second series. This show still has lots of different ways to go. Hopefully Gervais and Merchant will explore the private lives of Maggie and Andy more as they did with the characters of "The Office" in the second series. Right now it seems as if everything those two brilliant guys touch turns to gold and I hope this streak of luck continues for a while.