If Gervais had any balls, the second series of Extras would have been about Andy Millman writing a critically aclaimed sitcom called The Office. And the Xmas specials would have been Andy Millman trying to write the Xmas specials of the Office.
What can we expect from the Extras Xmas special? Page 4
Quote: zooo @ July 24, 2007, 3:04 PMThe Beckhams aren't in his new Special. That was bollocks. But George Michael is.
Ah, same dog, different fleas.
Well it has to have *someone* in it.
Unless he makes this last episode animated...
Or uses glove puppets.
Or himself.
zoo said puppet, not muppet.
Quote: zooo @ July 24, 2007, 3:04 PMThe Beckhams aren't in his new Special. That was bollocks. But George Michael is.
I read this on google news, although the source is the sunday mirror don't make out I just made it up out of thin air.
fficial&channel=s&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&tab=wn&q=extras+beckhams&scoring=n
Quote: Godot Taxis @ July 26, 2007, 2:41 PMzoo said puppet, not muppet.
Quote: Pilot @ July 27, 2007, 3:08 AMI read this on google news, although the source is the sunday mirror don't make out I just made it up out of thin air.
I didn't mean you were talking bollocks!
I was just being rude by accident. Again.
no worries, I did overreact a bit, glad they're not in it anyway.
The first BBC promo trailer for the Christmas special has just gone up on YouTube...
It's Ricky Gervais in The Dragons' Den http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxi8dbRVshI
Not as milked for comedy as it could have been
The final special has now gone out in the States (they got it before us). It went down pretty well with critics and audiences. Here's a couple of the reviews
Korbi Ghosh, E! Online:
The first half hour? A bloody brilliant reminder of why we love this show. What is it about Ricky Gervais that has celebrities flocking to make a mockery of themselves? He’s got Clive Owen, acting like the pompous prick he probably is in real life, George Michael, practically reenacting the public park bathroom scandal that nearly ended his career, and series regular Ashley Jensen, whose character Maggie is grossly humiliated in every other scene. Of course, we can’t forget Gervais himself, who is the biggest joke of them all as extra-turned-sitcom actor, Andy Millman. But as the special progresses, the tone takes a detour into the serious and depressing truth of both Maggie and Andy’s unfulfilling lives. And though the dive into drama is a bit unexpected, Gervais and company manage to pull it off, keeping things interesting throughout the final hour - proof that they can not only get us to laugh at these characters, but also care what actually happens to them as well.
Matthew Gilbert, The Boston Globe:
The 80-minute finale is the perfect cap to the series, an ugly yet emotionally resonant morality play about the price of selling out. The episode has a self-standing quality, and it's completely understandable to newcomers; but it's richest for fans as the culmination of a years-long plot arc. The "Extras" supporting cast members are extraordinary, as always, particularly Merchant. The cameos are memorable, too. On a movie set, star Clive Owen shreds Maggie's dignity and, in the process, his own. And George Michael is on hand for a set piece about the "queer bench" in a local park, in case we've forgotten how the media stalks its prey into ignominy. The presence of these notables adds to the verisimilitude of "Extras," and reinforces its already shrewd glimpse at the misery of those on the top of the heap.
There's more reviews etc here if you're interested. Be warned some contain spoilers though... http://news.google.com/news?ncl=1124858915
I watched it yesterday here in the US and thought it was an exceptional piece of television, even though I think there were probably many British references that flew over the heads of the average American viewer. But, I guess the entire series was like that, and people still seemed to 'get it.'
Great ending to the series. Gervais did a fantastic job in both writing and acting.
Well done.
just "obtaining" it now, sounds good.
I'll be interested to see how Gervais does over a longer length of time. He's very good in half hour bursts, but I wonder if he can go for a full eighty to ninety minutes. As much as I enjoyed The Office Christmas specials, they did feel somewhat stretched at forty-five minutes each. Hopefully this Extras extravaganza won't wear out its welcome.