TV Critic Fodder

Extras: Are You Having a Laugh?

Season Two of Ricky Gervais' "Extras" began tonight (10 p.m. on HBO). I've managed to see the UK version screened by the BBC last year and the first three episodes of HBO's slightly altered US version, and both are great. It's as cringingly funny as the first season, with plenty of big celebrities willing to skewer their public persona.

Daniel "Harry Potter" Radcliffe is determined to prove he’s no longer just a little wizard boy (claiming “I’ve done it, with a girl, intercourse-wise”) and Chris Martin sends up his do-gooder image. “Can we get on with this?” Martin snaps during a charity appeal photo shoot. “I’ve got to do AIDS and Alzheimer’s and land mines this afternoon, and I want to get back for ‘Deal or No Deal.’ Plus, Gwyneth’s making drumsticks.”

But the great thing about this new season is that the celebrities are no longer the focus. The sitcom Andy (Gervais) wrote at the end of season one was picked up by the BBC and then butchered, Gervais positing what would have happened had the BBC given "The Office" silly wigs, lowest common denominator jokes and a laugh track. Unfortunately, the idiot public love his horrible sitcom (titled "When The Whistle Blows" and looking suspiciously like something that belongs over on ITV) so Andy has become that sad sort of celebrity, loved by fools who can't get enough of his dreadful "are you having a laugh?" catch phrase, but scorned by other celebrities and - especially - critics.

With Andy and his sad semi-celebrity life now the focus, "Extras" becomes a sort of British "Curb Your Enthusiasm". A combination of misunderstandings and Andy's slight arrogance caused by his new found fame make for some hilariously awkward moments. As well as headlines like "TV Bully Kicks Dwarf In Face" after an argument with Warwick Davis (of "Willow" fame) gets out of hand.

The supporting cast are given more room this season too. Stephen Merchant and Shaun Williamson forging a bizarre almost Beckett style double act, with Merchant always referring to Williamson as Barry, his character on "Eastenders". Ashley Jensen's Maggie continues to ruin things with her just probable enough stupidity.

"Extras" also succeeds in combining the jokes with some genuine pathos. Though Andy sometimes causes his own problems, there's a genuine sense that he's stuck in a horrible trap of his own making. He didn't want to continue being an extra in his mid-40s, so he sold his soul to the BBC comedy department, and the show handles that tragedy with subtlety as well as humor. The perfect example comes when Gervais tries to hide from his problems in a celebrities only night club. After he shares his concerns with David Bowie, the singer writes an impromptu ballad about a "chubby little loser", the episode closing with a room full of celebrities singing the chorus: "see his pug nose fay-ace".

It's obvious that much of this season springs from Gervais' insecurities and experiences in the public eye, making this excellent sit-com actually quite personal and so a welcome relief in a comedy world still dominated by desperate laughs per minute shows written by committees of studio staff writers.

Also published on Screenhead.

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Posted by Daryl on January 14, 2007 9:50 PM
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