Any love for Extras?

[PatrickDonohue]

So I just watched the first disc of the first season this weekend and fell in love with the show. It's so understated and clever and well-done and the guest performances are really hilarious. Anybody else got love for this show? I figured that since Jeff and Alex are both actors that they would have a heightened appreciation for the show and maybe see something of their own careers (hopefully not) in Ricky Gervais' hilariously hopeless Andy Millman and Ashley Jensen is wonderful as Maggie.

[masherscf]

Honestly, I have trouble sitting through it. I watched the first season and I don't think it's understated. I think the show is overtly disconcerting. I feel the writers decided it would be funny to make the characters and situations as loathsome as possible while making it interesting enough to keep watching. This would be something akin to a live action version of Fred Flinstone, Homer Simpson or Duckman. In this, they succeed to some extent. The characters do not lack an ironic charm. But, too often they dance over that line for me and I end up asking myself, "Why do I care about you anyway?"

Just my opinion, take it or leave it. It could be a cultural thing. But, I like Ricky Gervais and normally have no trouble parsing British humour.

[PatrickDonohue]

I enjoy the show for an entirely different reason than I enjoy a show like Scrubs or The Office or Aaron Sorkin's Sportsnight. I feel no particular emotional attachment or emotional investment in Gervais' character or Jensen's character but don't really feel the need to. I don't feel the need to "care" about them, as it were. I am perfectly content seeing these characters do and say things that I find a little reprehensible but funny none the less. I don't think the show takes itself too seriously at all and does have the tendency to push the boundaries of good taste but does so to its credit, in my opinion.

[BeatOwner]

Love the show. Both series. LOVE the Christmas Special.

[JohnnySwift]

Are you havin' a laff?! Is he havin' a laff?!

[mltvcocktail]

Love this show to death. I think I like the first season a little better than the second season but the Christmas Special was brilliant. Favorite guest stars are probably Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and David Bowie. Oh, has anybody else seen the hilarious video that Ricky Gervais made for Comic Relief?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=e-ia__1d_rM

[joedubbs]

I like the show. Didn't see the Christmas special.

[magunwarrior]

I loved the show personally.

[esophagus]

It's so understatedIt just won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series. Far from being underrated.

Really good though. The Comedy Network in Canada has jsut started airring the first season, so I'm just getting into it, but I'm really enjoying what I've seen so far. Just watched the episode with Ben Stiller. So good.

[LStone]

I really enjoy it. The episode with Patrick Stewart is easily the best one. "I've seen everything"

[magunwarrior]

David Bowie's cameo is also hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWuBgWNMUM8

[PatrickDonohue]

It just won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series. Far from being underrated.

Understated and underrated don't mean the same thing.

[esophagus]

Understated and underrated don't mean the same thing.Sorry, misread what you said.

[PatrickDonohue]

No big deal. I don't think anything Ricky Gervais does at this point in his career could never be characterized as underrated lol. It's like saying, "you know who is totally hot that no one ever talks about is that Jessica Alba."

[Ugly Casanova32]

The David Bowie song alone makes this series totally rad.

[spacegrass]

are you hav'n a laugh

[mormonrage]

I'm gonna go ahead and declare myself the #1 Extras fanboy. Actually, I'm probably just about the #1 Ricky Gervais fanboy.

If you have the inclination, you should go on a little torrent hunt for his old XFM radio shows. They're fantastic, and actually give you some insight on where many of the ideas that wind up in his TV shows come from. For example, the whole scene with Darren masturbating with the pen was part of a conversation from a show four years ago. Hilarious stuff--I could listen to them all day.

[scoobydiesel]

i really liked the patrick stewart part, i have only seen a few clips here an there but from what i have seen its pretty funny

[marcomc2]

great, great show. tea for tillerman is perfect at the end of every episode. it all culminates in the last half of the christmas special. its amazing, that ending. i love gervais

[godmode]

Love the show to death. I missed a lot of jokes with the British celebs though...I mean Ronnie Corbett is a funny looking guy but I have no idea who he is...and Barry from Eastenders. The agent character is probably my favourite in the show. This clip just sums him up:
KmGaW-z2g3Y
I found the Christmas special to be kind of terrible...especially the dragging parts of Maggie working her shitty jobs. Andy's rant on Big Brother completely took me out of the show too...it felt more like Ricky Gervais talking than Andy Milman.

[nshady]

I have so much love for this show, it's unnatural.

I loved the second season even more than the first, but the christmas finale was absolutely spectacularly brilliant. Perhaps one of the finest 80 minutes of television I've ever seen.

So, so, so good.

And as for the whole 'unwatchable' awkwardness, I think that's often a more realistic approach to these interactions in the real world. Both of the main characters are rather tragic - the whole show is a tragedy, really - and it's brilliant for it.

[bcool]

I haven't ever made it all the way through an episode but i could watch the patrick stewart scene on a loop. the daniel radcliff one's pretty damn funny too.