Extras - The Complete First Season (2005)

Grows on You

This is a wonderful little series and a touching one too. Ricky Gervais plays an actor and writer who finds work as an extra. The parts are extremely small and usually never have a speaking part. He has a useless agent who seems as lost as he is and his friend Maggie is even more completely hopeless, she lives in a hovel without much money and usually is treated worse when working as an extra. The jokes are subtle and don't overwhelm the pathos of the character's lives. The more you watch it, the more poignant the episodes become. A nice piece of work, short and sweet. May 14, 2008

Pardon?

Ricky Gervais is Mr. Unfunny in my opinion. If there was an option to choose zero stars I think that would be more apropriate. April 26, 2008

Some great bits but overall just pretty good

I'm a big UK Office fan, so I was curious how Gervais would follow that up. I thought this first season was funny overall, but not quite up to the standard of the Office. The humor is the same: watching defective characters in awkwardly uncomfortable situations. I found it funny, but after David Brent, Gervais' Andy Millman character seemed a bit too mundane for me, and his annoying female sidekick's silliness sometimes seemed forced and unrealistic. This series does have some genuinely classic moments though. The funniest aspect is the celebrity cameos, in which big time entertainers play warped versions of themselves. I was laughing out loud at the crass and cynical Kate Winslet, the megalomaniacal Ben Stiller and the girl-crazy, juvenile Patrick Stewart. I had never heard of the two British celebrities- Ross Kemp and Les Dennis- but their faux personalities were great too. So, I think this is a very good series- perhaps even deserving of all its awards- but a definite second-best in the Office-style genre of comedy. March 28, 2008

A Must Own

This show offers not only the hilarity of comedy geniuses like Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, but also amazing cameos by some of Hollywood's biggest stars. Brilliant. January 16, 2008

Extras - grows on you if you liked The Office

I stumbled across Extras while browsing Amazon to see if Ricky Gervais had done anything recently. (My The Office DVDs are badly scratched, as I watched them over, and over, and over again wishing there would be more!) WELL - I ordered Extras. I did have some chuckles, and the more I watched, the more the series grew on me. Something new from Ricky Gervais. Yippee!!!

If you miss The Office and you're a fan of Ricky Gervais' & Stephen Merchant's humor, then Extras is a must-buy. Give it time... I now prefer it to The Office! It's nice to see something new from them... (Well, new to me...) January 8, 2008

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