I've listen to the xfm and podcasts, I don't believe anyone could script that much and be so funny, imo anyway.
I think Ricky and Steve guide him onto something funny. If he was sat on his own it would just be ramblings, he needs his shepherds.
Extras - no Series 3 Page 3
They do lead him on and it is a bit cruel really - like making fun of "special needs" people.
Quote: David Chapman @ May 7, 2007, 2:05 PMI liked his radio show on XFM a couple of years ago too. Karl Pilkington's first contributions - was he really that stupid or was it all scripted?
Without having listened to any of it, I can't comment directly, but I would hazard a guess that he probably said a few stupid things and they jumped on it and exploited it for the rest of the series'.
That's right and Gervais just giggled his head off at everything Karl said.
Karl wasn't scripted. he's amazing!
I've seen him do stuff on his own and he's still just as fantastic. He really is unlike anyone else, Ricky and Steve were very lucky to find the little bald manc.
And as you say, dear Aaron, you haven't listened to any of it! So shut it.
(If I smile afterwards you won't take offence, right?)
But I can't quite work out if he really is special or "special".
A bit of both I'd say.
Quote: zooo @ May 7, 2007, 5:50 PMAnd as you say, dear Aaron, you haven't listened to any of it! So shut it.
(If I smile afterwards you won't take offence, right?)
Well I did say I wasn't commenting directly, nor proclaiming it as gospel...
I'll let you off, as it's your birthday. 
Bo'Selecta and the like are fodder tho. Fawlty Towers and Office and Extras and Ripping Yarns and all the ones which were stopped way before the rot set in will remain quality, simply because there's a finite amount of material in anything. Only fools was ok, but they should really have stopped when Rodney got married. After that it started to get strained, I thought. There were moments, but it was just a cash cow.
Even the Python team waned in the end. Some of the latter shows were awfully patchy...
The 'loads of episodes diminishes quality' doesn't always hold water, mind. Frazier was uniformally brilliant. Twelve years, not one bad episode. Dads' Army only really had one show which didn't work - the one with the gorilla, which even when it first went out I thought 'hold on a second...'.
I can understand why some stations, especially somewhere as internally talent starved as teh BBC like to hold on to things as long as possible. It's safe money.
There are some good shows coming through. Romans' Empire, I'm With Stupid etc. There is light at the end of the tunnel on which the commissioning editor seems to sit on.
[quote name="] Twelve years, not one bad episode.
[/quote]
Twelve years, not one single original storyline.
here is more about him http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Pilkington
Watching a show you loved turn into something you hate is a really awful thing. I personally didn't feel as if Extras left me wanting more as the end of The Office did - it did seem to be using the gimmick of the special guest stars far to heavily by series 2 (who all seemed to be written as egomaniacal, obnoxious tossers - the most inventive use of celebrity in s02 was having De Nero giggle like a school boy over a naked-lady pen). It was definitely the right choice to call it quits after 2 series, I did like Extras but it seemed that Ricky was just playing a slightly more cynical version of himself, hopefully his new project will require a little more from him as a comic actor.
P.S. I highly recommend downloading the RG/SM/KP XFM shows if you enjoyed the podcasts. http://www.pilkipedia.co.uk/wiki/index.php?title=Download:Xfm
I used to like Gervais but after you've seen his influences and how unoriginal he is, its difficult to see him in the same light. Also after his Gervais meets Gary Shandling show its hard not to see him as an arrogant prick with boardeline anti-semetci tendancies.
Other thing Gervais does is make everyone act like him.