Gervais seems to be a pioneer for change in sitcomedy on several fronts from his mockcom style to his sudden switch from comedy to emotional drama, his legendary/notorious comedy of awkwardness still influencing many shows today and his increasingly sadness themed projects. Some may liken it to Classical Greek comedy and drama, I'm not sure if he's aiming to be that serious or pretentious because his best stuff imo is instinctively funny, politically incorrect humour which many liberal critics find offensive, which makes it even more pleasing. He's nearer to Benny Hill than Ben Elton but for his modern anti trad sitcom format he's very insistent on.
His comedy is so good it's a shame he's got it wrong on his format and seems to be responsible for turning sitcoms into comdrams. I suppose it's not his fault he's got so many sub par imitators, it just proves how very good at his craft he is. I hope for a return to good quality trad studio sitcoms and if we ever get them again they will be a huge breath of fresh air to the sub Gervais stuff they've been shovelling onto the sitcom schedule. Keep Gervais' stuff going because it's high quality just stop the conveyer belt production of poor quality imitators. Please.