Ricky Gervais - Time for a backlash?

Is anybody else starting to find Ricky incredibly annoying. His Ricky Gervais Meets... shows were atrocious. He laughed like a drain whenever anybody said anything remotely amusing, and he was constantly fishing for complements about his own shows. And if I have to hear him do one more bloody joke about how many awards he's won a bricks going through the TV.

Aside from this, he's actually quite a limited writer and performer. All he seems capable of writing about is the comedy of embarrassment, which worked brilliantly in The Office, but has become pretty thin of late. And not just thin, but formulaic (a character says somethingly deeply offensive about gays or blacks or cripples, and people stand around in appalled silence).

Added to all this, he seems on a one man mission to f**k up other peoples comedies. His episode of the Simpsons was dire, and the clips of For Your Consideration in which he appears don't really work and seem to be just variations on Brent.

i would agree to a point with that he does seem to be running a little thin at the minute. But Ricky Gervais Meets Larry David was brilliant.
I hope he pulls his finger out because he really was a breath of fresh air when he burst onto the scene.

I'm just amused/relieved/overjoyed/thrilled to see that more and more people are coming around to the view I've had all along.

He isn't the comedy God that some people make him out to be, but a backlash? The Office was a breath of fresh air and Extras had its moments. He is a good stand up comedian and always has something interesting to say when he is interviewed. In short, he's the best we've got at the moment. At a time when we're being bombarded with shite such as Pulling, Dogtown and Blunder, we can't afford the luxury of a backlash against the likes of Gervais.

I've been lashing back against Gervais since the Office ended. I don't think his standup or Extras have been much cop, and he comes across as dislikable in interviews and DVD extras.

Apart from that he's great.

I agree totally. Ricky Gervais is now being found out and if Stephen Marchent ever split up from him in his writing partnership he would sink - just as he does in his stand-up routines and whenever he is just being himself.

I shall forever be grateful to him for his part in creating The Office, which I still love, but for him to being given all the credit for its success is totally wrong. I cannot understand why the TV critics still adore him - I rather suspect none wants to be the first to voice the opinion that they're all guilty of over-rating Ricky Gervais while failing miserably to give Stephen Marchent the credit he deserves.

steven merchant wins best comedy actor 2006 british comedy awards

yeah i see what ya mean about not giving him any credit.....

Quote: Duke Bilko @ January 4, 2007, 5:12 PM

I agree totally. Ricky Gervais is now being found out and if Stephen Marchent ever split up from him in his writing partnership he would sink - just as he does in his stand-up routines and whenever he is just being himself.

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Found out by who exactly? A couple of people on a comedy forum who've decided that SM is the talented one and Gervais would be nowhere without him? I'm sure he's bricking it.

Quote: Wheeler @ January 4, 2007, 5:34 PM

Found out by who exactly? A couple of people on a comedy forum who've decided that SM is the talented one and Gervais would be nowhere without him? I'm sure he's bricking it.

View original

hahahahaha

'The Office' was probably Ricky Gervais finest hour. David Brent was a superb creation but all that has happened since is to turn everyone who has subsequently appeared in Extras sound and act like David Brent/Ricky Gervais. Have a good look next time you catch a repeat because every action and reaction is identical because no matter what the part, no matter what the character, no matter who the actor, it always comes across as David Brent/Ricky Gervais.

But such is the fickle finer of fame, people are beginning to tire of this one trick pony unless Ricky Gervais can actually come up with something different. I hope he can.

It depends on how you look at it. You say 'people' are beginning to tire of him. Maybe some people are, but many still like what he does - e.g. Extras did well in the ratings and he continues to be a big draw as a stand up.

Now I never said I didn't like Ricky Gervais because a more likeable chap I've yet to come across. However, that doesn't get away from the fact that he should be doing something more than playing David Brent whenever he's on screen. That said, I also can't find fault with what you posted too.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not of the opinion that he is a comedy God. The second series of Extras was funny in places but it was overreliant on celeb cameos and not as good as the first series. I just found some of the comments on here to be OTT.

I think that the reaction that his new stand-up tour gets will be a better measure of whether people are getting sick of him. I doubt whether anybody really cares that much about the interviews that he did with some of his idols.

The Ricky Gervais Meets

For some bizarre reason I posted that last comment without finishing it. I just wanted to say Ricky Gervais Meets Gary Shandling was quite fun because Gary Shandling clearly thought he was a bit of a pipsqueak. And his critiscm of Gervais being like a naughty litle schoolboy only interested in being shocking was spot on. And Gervais couldn't really answer it properly.

He's still one of the big boys in British comedy but he desperately needs to broaden his range.