This RG bashing/nit picking/abuse/ is getting very tiresome. I am not coming back to this thread!
The title of this thread seems all but forgotten.
I am with my zooo who courageously sticks up for him.
Extras Christmas Special Page 21
On the subject of 'Gervais-haters' ( surely Gervais deniers? ) it's worth noting that the biggest gervais-hater is... Gervais.
He is the kafka of our times in that he needs a psychotherapist more than he needs an audience.
Nah, he just needs a cuddle.
So, he has a cat, you say? I like him afterall. 
Quote: Godot Taxis @ January 4, 2008, 1:34 AM'Gervais-haters' ( surely Gervais deniers? )
Quote: Eat_My_Shirts @ January 3, 2008, 11:36 PMThe thing I find annoying about Gervais (the person, not comedian) is that he craves celebrity/media attention for what he considers is the right sort of celebrity/media attention.
For example, earlier this year he was on the Richard & Judy show campaigning and offering a reward for a lost cat. Apparently he had seen posters up, in the road he lives in, and he felt bad for the people who had lost this cat, so he phoned Richard & Judy, live on air, and pled for people to find it. Was this really necessary?? Did it really require a nationwide search?? He was just trying to make himself look good.
Also, I can't remember the number of times I've seen him go on about the time he supposedly rejected $1 million dollars to come up with a superbowl TV advert.
How do you know that is "Gervais the person" and not a character he gives himself when hes on TV, or performing?
Listen, I'm not a Gervais hater. Far from it infact, I think he's a genius, master of his craft..etc..etc. But he ain't no Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa. It's obvious to see that success has clearly gone to his head. It's like those people who win the lottery. The yap on about how they're going to stay the same, and that money isn't going to change them. It's bullshit, it always does.
Quote: Aaron @ January 4, 2008, 8:54 AMSo, he has a cat, you say? I like him afterall.
All the best men have cats!
Is it the cat that makes the man?
If only Hitler had had a pussy, none of that pesky war stuff woulda happened.
(True on so many levels)
OK. So I made the effort and read this entire thread. And people were complaining the Extras Special was too long! 
Joking aside here's two cents:
About all of the critical/technical analysis that people have posted about the special; as valid as most of this is (as well as tainted by opinions) it seems to me that it's opinions that are getting in the way.
Was Maggie's part well written? With something creative like TV show writing an analysis can only go so far, and then opinions will inevitably take over. People like things which aren't particularly well done and don't like things which are.
All I'm trying to say is people have posted their specific reasons about why this special was flawed yet these things won't be viewed as flaws by everyone. Trying to pass such things off as fact is odd.
Opinion:
I enjoyed this and while I agree about some of the poorer things mentioned (Gordon Ramsey's bit for one) I felt this was a worthy finish to a decent sitcom.
I don't know RG personally, I've met him once outside a theatre and he seemed nice and quite humble actually. I don't think you need to know him to like his work. His work should be judged on its own merit.
There are certainly a lot of not very nice people in the entertainment industry but a lot of it is kept quiet and we go and watch their stuff anyway. So its a hard line to follow.
I've always thought he uses his stand-up alter-ego a lot when he does press interviews. I have certainly seen a lot of interviews where he is very grounded and not arrogant at all.
Quote: ContainsNuts @ January 7, 2008, 12:48 PMI don't know RG personally, I've met him once outside a theatre and he seemed nice and quite humble actually. I don't think you need to know him to like his work. His work should be judged on its own merit.
There are certainly a lot of not very nice people in the entertainment industry but a lot of it is kept quiet and we go and watch their stuff anyway. So its a hard line to follow.
I've always thought he uses his stand-up alter-ego a lot when he does press interviews. I have certainly seen a lot of interviews where he is very grounded and not arrogant at all.
I'd agree with that.
All of it, in fact.
Quote: ContainsNuts @ January 7, 2008, 12:48 PMI don't know RG personally, I've met him once outside a theatre and he seemed nice and quite humble actually.
I have certainly seen a lot of interviews where he is very grounded and not arrogant at all.
Gervais definitely seems nice in his latest YouTube video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDFMGqFNy9U
I think he's a bit of a victim of his smug and arrogant 'act' - people have started to believe he's actually like that.
Quote: ContainsNuts @ January 7, 2008, 12:48 PMThere are certainly a lot of not very nice people in the entertainment industry but a lot of it is kept quiet and we go and watch their stuff anyway. So its a hard line to follow.
After the kind of things I've read, there'll be no argument from me here!
Quote: Mark @ January 7, 2008, 1:49 PMGervais definitely seems nice in his latest YouTube video... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDFMGqFNy9U
I think he's a bit of a victim of his smug and arrogant 'act' - people have started to believe he's actually like that.
He does seem very nice in that, but then I've always thought he would be. Like you say, people only see "Ricky Gervais - the performer" and not "Ricky Gervais - the person".
The performing side of Gervais' character is not really the issue here. He is a weak actor but a very good comedy performer who knows how to deliever his own material. he frequently makes me laugh.
But he's not very good at disguising his contempt and bitterness for his contemporaries - in fact this is the most notable fact about him and something that is a discussion point in the real world, away from this forum, where people are able to apply sober critical judgement and accepted critical analysis to what he does.
We all know what Gervais thinks of C. Tate, lenny henry, British Films, British Sitcom etc., not from what he's said in interviews, but from what his characters have said in his shows. His last project (Extras) was from the 2nd series on an extended exploration of how he has been treated by organisations such as the BBC and fans since he became über-successful.
Have you all forgotten 'Count f**kula' from series 2 of Extras and cretinous mates? The 'morons' who are watching the recording of 'when the whistle blows'? Where do these people come from - or more properly, why does geervais feels the need to show they exist? Gervais has unheard of critical and popular acclaim and the BBC in his pocket, but he makes a show about the BBC over-riding him and the public being too stupid to understand him. What does that tell you about his ego/personality?