Extras With Ricky Gervais By Lezah WIlliamson

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We just got two seasons of Ricky Gervais's latest effort, Extras, on DVD.

I loved The Office. So droll. And, as usual, the British version is much better than the American remake. Although, I've got to admit, the American version is growing on me.

But I digress: Extras is what we're on about here. And Extras it shall be.

Extras is a very, very clever show - even better than The Office - about people who are - you guessed it - extras. Or 'background artists', as some of them prefer to be called.

Ricky Gervais is an extra who considers himself a 'real actor' - he just does the extra work to pay the bills. He's got a script that he's written that's supposed to be circulating, but unfortunately for both his writing and acting careers, he's also saddled with the worst agent of all times (played by Stephen Merchant, his co-writer for both this show and The Office).

There are guest appearances each episode from some big name stars: Kate Winslet, Robert De Niro, Ian McKellan, Orlando Bloom. Each of the actors who appears ends up playing themselves - and yet, in Gervais's usual twisted way, he presents them as (what I certainly hope are) polar opposites of their true selves.

The second season sees our hero being a little more successful professionally, but even less successful on a personal level.

This one is a definite 10/10.

Omage from www.mckellen.com