Interesteg What makes it different from others?

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Sameer Callahan It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Majikat The genius mind that is Ricky Gervais, what a concept for a comedy series! Managing to pull in some big names to basically take the mickey out of themselves, Gervais gets the big stars to do unbelievable things.

merelyaninnuendo ExtrasA fine detailed and keenly observed peek on behind the cameras on stage and the events occuring in their that effects the lives of extras and how they survive in this show business. It also intakes the fluctuations that one does undergo in fame, media and personality in a very mild but intense way that it no longer walks on comic tone but serious emotional trauma. Ricky Gervais proves his brilliant writing skills on witty humor, genuine moving emotions and thought provoking concept. He is well supported in performance level by Ashley Jensen and Stephen Merchant; who by the way is more hilarious than Ricky in here. Extras being tricky on its premise has quirky comedy that lets you cringe on your seat which all of it is overpowered later on by this high pitched dramatic act that was building up all the way through it.

jc-osms Over the last few weeks I've been working my way through the two-box DVD set of Series 1 & 2 of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's much anticipated follow-up to "The Office", of which I was a big fan. This inside-exposure of a bit-actor's life in "luvvy-dom" is similar but different and requires a bigger leap of faith from its audience in expecting it to relate to this pretend-world of TV & cinema rather than the everyday familiarity of an office environment. The writing artfully weaves stories around drop-in cameo appearances of big-name UK & US stars, never mind pop-stars of the stature of Gervais' hero David Bowie and new-best-mate Chris Martin of Coldplay (I noticed Gervais in the crowd at Coldplay's free live preview of their new album outside BBC Broadcasting House in the summer) but principally focuses on Gervais' own Andy Millman character and his little band of fellow-nobodies, genuine find (although I'm always biased towards a good natural Scottish accent!) Ashley Jensen as man-mad, but dim "not my girlfriend" Maggie, Merchant himself as the completely inept agent and Shaun Williamson as Merchant's sidekick, down-on-his-luck "Barry from Eastenders". I'd go as far as rating Williamson's acting as "best-in-show", his role requires self-humiliation to the nth. degree and he carries it off with clear-eyed pathos as indeed do almost-has-been UK TV celebrities Les Dennis & Keith Chegwin in their guest spots. Williamson's "Barry" in fact is about the only cast member to elicit any real feelings of sympathy or empathy from the audience even if this veers often to downright pity for his pathetic "how the mighty have fallen" plight. But therein lies the problem for me, as the humour is occasionally spoiled by the sheer unlike-ability and unreality of Gervais and his gang of "house-characters". In addition, at least three episodes demonstrate a crassness towards the sick or the disabled, while another belittles a Polish war-refugee and yet another a slow-witted simpleton. Gays get bashed into stereotypical archetypes too, although I'm sure the writers would say I'm missing the irony somewhere. The star cameos do come off well however for the most part, Kate Winslet giving tips on phone-sex dressed in a nun's habit, Patrick Stewart as an old lech, Ben Stiller as a megalomaniac director and Robert De Niro as, well, Robert De Niro and there are numerous hilarious set-piece moments, including Andy's exposure as a non-Catholic dressed as John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever", the "BAFTA Awards Night" fiasco, David Bowie's "spontaneous" song, while the send-up of old-school British comedy antiquities in "When the Whistle Blows", if a few rungs below Victoria Woods' spot-on "Acorn Antiques" still made me think ruefully of the hours I wasted growing up watching dated, stereotypical Brit-coms like "Love Thy Neighbour" or "Hi-De-Hi" topped with an "Only Fools and Horses" - type theme-tune. Like some of the best TV sitcoms, it plays effectively without a laugh-track (c.f. "M.A.S.H.", "Ripping Yarns", "Larry Sanders") but isn't quite in their class. For me then, a bit of a mixed bag if still streets ahead of most contemporary comedies, a less engaging, but if I was being truthful, scarcely less funny successor to its ground-breaking predecessor. And it got me re-acquainted with my moldering Cat Stevens collection too!

Lee Eisenberg Following up from "The Office", Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have created another great show. "Extras" casts Gervais as Andy Millman, a supporting actor always having to be in the presence of temperamental movie stars (who play themselves). Eventually, Andy gets a role on a TV show as a dorky boss with a catchphrase.The setup is much the same as "The Office": it's made to look cinema verite, while the characters get into embarrassing situations with each other. Granted, Andy Millman is a little different from David Brent: David had nothing to do and so he deliberately made inappropriate comments; Andy hopes to make it big, and often claims that he already has.Probably the show's most impressive aspect is how the movie stars playing themselves portray themselves as pathetic individuals. For example, Kate Winslet stars in a movie about the Holocaust because she knows that people who star in movies about the Holocaust always win Oscars; Daniel Radcliffe, meanwhile, will do anything to get laid. Ben Stiller, Ian McKellen and Orlando Bloom also appear. Seriously, how many people would be willing to depict themselves on screen as worthless human beings? All in all, this is a great show. I hope that Ricky Gervais continues with this sort of work. A true masterpiece.