Extras The Complete First Season DVD with Ricky Gervais, Ashley Jensen, Stephen Merchant (Unrated) +Movie Reviews +Used DVD available for Swap

Who are these British 'celebs'?

Trevor Hirst | Merced, CA USA | 10/27/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well, let me help you out! As a British ex-pat living in the USA perhaps I can shed some light on who these "famous" people are:

Ep. 3 Ross Kemp: A former regular cast member of BBC soap "Eastenders", he played tough-thug-with a-heart-of-gold Grant Mitchell ('e loved 'is Mum, 'e did!) for many years, then went on to front a TV show about fishing. Hmm.

Ep. 3 Shaun Williamson: Another Eastenders regular, he played failed son of a second-hand car dealer Barry Evans, who (in the show) married Natalie, who had an affair with Ricky, who was married to Samantha Mitchell (Grant's sister). Oh, and Barry's father was married to Ricky's mother, Pat. It's all true!!

Ep. 3 Vinnie Jones: Actually you may have heard of him - he was recently seen in X-Men 3: The Last Stand as Juggernaut. He was also in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (debt collecting) and Swordfish (random thug). In the UK however, Jones is best known for playing football (sorry, Soccer...) for Wimbledon and grabbing fellow UK football star Paul Gascoigne by the scrotum during a game (all true and caught on film). I realize it may be confusing for those who associate Wimbledon only with Tennis, but the place is well known for its (now defunct) football team and Wombles (but that is another tale for another day).

Ep. 5 Les Dennis: Les came to the public eye as part of a comedy/impersonations duo with Dustin Gee on Russ Abbott's Mad House (old-fashioned British humor from the eighties, say no more), which led to their own show "The Laughter Show". Their best known skit featured impersonations of Vera Duckworth (Gee) and Mavis Riley (Dennis) from UK soap Coronation Street. The Mavis Riley character was known for being wimpy, downtrodden and indecisive, hence Dennis's (over)use of the phrase, "I don't really know!"
Dennis's more recent role was that of host of Family Fortunes (the UK version of Family Feud) which spawned his famous catchphrase, "If it's up there I'll give you the money myself", when contestants came out with particularly stupid answers. Both of these catchphrases feature in the Extras episode, hence the long and boring explanation.

I hope that shed some light on things. Episode numbers are per HBO screening. Fortunately there are fewer UK celebs in Season One than in Season Two!"

Just as enjoyable as The Office

wendy sullivan | Salisbury, Massachusetts United States | 11/02/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a huge fan of The Office, which I think is one of the best sitcoms ever, I was anxiously anticipating Extras by the brilliant Ricky Gervais.

Extras follows Andy Millman who earns a living as a "background artist" in film and television. Andy wants to break out into bigger and better parts but first needs to at least get one line in a feature that won't end up on the cutting room floor. Andy's best friend Maggie, played by the adorable Ashley Jensen shares Andy's dream but is also in search of a relationship she can maintain past the two week mark.

Gervais' underacheiving Andy is not a cringe-worthy David Brent knock off but a multi-dimensional character whose struggles are shared by the audiance albeit in a unique field. Each episode features a relatively big named star such as Kate Winslet, Ben Stiller, Samual L Jackson and Patrick Stewart, though some stars such as Les Dennis and Vinny Jones are less well known here in the United States, though we get the general idea, Andy wants a speaking part and tries to befriend each of the stars in order to snag a speaking part.

Andy, pretending to be catholic, or "the "C" word" as he calls it and claiming that Michael Flatly was his childhood priest certainly remind us of David Brent but moments such as keeping suicidal Les Dennis company for the night or taking a more pathetic and desparate extra to dinner show Andy isn't quite the narcissist Brent was. Watching highly acclaimed and well respected actress Kate Winslet offer phone sex suggestions to Maggie is one of the most hilarious moments in television. Ben Stiller as a control freak threatening to shoot a childs mother in order for the child to act better and Samual L Jackson putting up with Maggie calling Louis Armstrong Sasquatch are refreshing and original compared to most watered down sitcoms.

"

Does what any great comedy series should do...

nicjaytee | London | 10/20/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Which is?...make you laugh. And, for fans of "The Office" and deadpan English humour who haven't had the opportunity to catch it yet, this DVD is a real treat. Different, opaque to start off with, but almost as good, the six episodes hold together as a "story" and, as you start to understand what's going on, the three main characters just get funnier & funnier. Ricky Gervais' acting is superbly understated, Ashley Jenson is his perfect foil as the "put upon" extra, Stephen Merchant (Gervais' co-writer of The Office) is a perfectly cast comic revelation as his fast-talking but hopeless agent, and the idea of making famous stars make fools of themselves is excruciatingly embarrassing and, as a result, brilliantly funny.

Sure, some episodes work better than others - and, for non-English viewers several of the "star" actors will be totally unknown, making what's going on even more difficult to fathom out - but, with the possible exception of Fawlty Towers, no "classic" English comedy series has hit the bull's-eye every single time and there are more than enough winners here to put it straight into "classic" status. The result? A full evening's worth of great comedy that you'll watch over & over again. Not bad for a follow-up.

"

The triumphant return of Gervais and Merchant...

Brian J. Sleeman | Marquette, MI USA | 01/15/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"You're most likely reading this if you're a fan of Gervais & Merchant from "The Office," the podcast, or the old XFM shows. Whatever your background of familiarity with these guys, "the difficult second album" as Gervais refers to it is quite a follow-up.

Ricky plays Andy Millman, a deeper character and one tougher to play than the hilariously obnoxious and uncomfortable David Brent. Never an actor before "The Office," Ricky is given more range and more of a challenge and proves he's up to the task. The bonus here is that Stephen Merchant gets a lot more screen time (and even more in season two) as the ridiculous non-agent Darren Lamb. Fans of Merchant from the old radio shows and podcast will certainly enjoy his greater participation.

Rather than blather on about how original, creative, and brilliant this series is (see everyone else's review for that), I'll clue you in on the special features.

OUT-TAKES: Thankfully, Gervais and Merchant have always been generous in their inclusion of their mis-steps and "behind the scenes" views of their work in "The Office," and that trend continues here. Try not to hurt yourself watching all of the takes of Ricky in the "You're aware that I'm gay" confrontation with the BBC producer from the last episode of series one. Or the multiple, failed renditions of "Mustang Sally" featuring "Barry off 'EastEnders'" with Stephen Merchant on backing vocals. It's absolutely hilarious stuff along the lines of Ricky's 70 takes with Martin Freeman trying to get through his staff appraisal in "The Office" (you remember, "the hot seat"). And it all proves once again that Ricky - though challenged by a more difficult acting role - has thankfully not become too serious a thespian that he cannot laugh at himself and continually probe his coworkers into fits of laughter as well.

FINDING LEO: This won't get many repeat viewings, but it's good for its "behind the scenes" look at Ricky and Stephen scrambling to fill a vacancy in the show late into the night by contacting several people in failed attempts to line Leonardo DiCaprio up for a role on the show.

TAPING NIGEL: You've probably seen this before if you've watched the special features on "The Office" DVD's: Ricky enjoys his 5-minute attention span by tying up the show's editor, Nigel, and performing his own "Project Runway" costume experiments on him. It seems when Karl Pilkington is unavailable, Ricky makes Nigel the guinea pig.

THE DIFFICULT SECOND ALBUM: An interesting look at the making of the series, mostly about how impressed Ricky and Stephen were with how well the A-listers they brought in for the series performed. Again, it won't get as many repeat viewings as the outtakes, but good stuff nonetheless."

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