So, as I've said before, I really love The Office. And Ricky Gervais as a whole actually. And he followed up The Office with Extras, which is a generally more conventional sitcom, dropping the mockumentary style in favour of a standard approach to the sitcom. But Extras has a gimmick, and one that I find is quite interesting. Each episode features a celebrity guest, usually quite a prominent actor. This is actually pretty cool, because let's face it, how many times do you get to say "I watched a Britcom last night and Robert de Niro was in it". It's a fairly interesting idea, with the celebrity guest usually playing a warped version of themselves. Like Kate Winslet being an desperate Oscar chaser. Or David Bowie being an expert insult comic.
That Bowie episode is excellent, and a great example of why Extras works so damn well. It's not just Ricky Gervais being like "oh look who I know, amn't I great". It's a show about how weird showbusiness is, and uses real people to give an impression of realism, and to give an edge to it's satire. Like how The Office lampoons the tedium of its workplace through a mockumentary style, Extras satirises the film industry by portraying the real people within it as a load of weirdos who are nothing like how you'd expect them to be. It's obvious that these people are nothing like how they're portrayed, but the effectiveness of Extras comes from how it uses its exaggerated portraits to deliver real observations on the entertainment industry. The Bowie episode works so well because it's unexpected. It was an unpredictable move for Bowie to belt out a (fantastic) number on how Gervais' character has sold out, and do it in a way that's so insulting and so surprising. This is how you do observational comedy. The result of the observation should be unexpected, and it should be a little bit strange. Through its use of caricature and exaggeration, it delivers some pretty great insights into the acting world, and dissects issues such as recognition, fame, image and artistic integrity in ways that feel unique and fairly refreshing. And because it's Gervais, it isn't without it's moments of dark humour either. It's the exact kind of sharp satire you'd expect from him (and Steven Merchant, who co created both this and The Office).
Extras might not be top of anyone's all time greatest Britcom list, but I do think that in terms of great modern comedy shows, it stands out. Okay yeah, it might not be as widely discussed today as The Office, but I definitely think that Extras is a brave, bold Britcom, and one that I do think will stand the test of time. Just like other observational comedies, it taps into ideas and topics that I think will remain recognisable for a while to come. Or I'd like to think so anyway. It's one that I don't think gets enough credit, and I'd even put it on par with The Office in terms of Gervais' best stuff. By allowing big Hollywood actors to laugh at themselves, Gervais had allowed everyone who watches this show to laugh at showbusiness itself. And that's just really great.
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