Extras (2005) s01e04 – Les Dennis

The episode starts with Ricky Gervais visiting agent Stephen Merchant—who may or may not have a new hair cut, which may or may not be silly—and then they go off to a theater to get Gervais a proper acting job. Well, the genie in a production of “Aladdin.” But he’s got lines.

There’s a lot of jokes at Gervais’s expense about his weight and appearance. Not so much about his acting ability, which the show has until this point implied is shitty. They meet Les Dennis, who’s a British TV host and standup comic or something. Apparently it’s odd episodes where Gervais is trying to target non-British audiences, even ones where it’s UK-only.

I mean, when “Extras” aired in 2006 or whatever… there was barely even YouTube. How would you find out about Les Dennis? Left with the show’s impression of him he’s a very sad guy who’s dating a younger woman, Nicky Ladanowski, who’s going to take him for his money. He’s not funny anymore and he whines a lot. The episode is about fifteen minutes of him whining to Gervais, whose character has become downright cuddly by episode four. Gone are most of his previous obnoxious traits.

He does still make fun of Ashley Jensen for not being smart, but it’s pretty much just that one joke. The rest of the time he’s just listening to the whining. Meanwhile, Jensen—who doesn’t appear for so long into the episode I had started panicking she wouldn’t appear; the prospect of “Extras” without her is a daunting one—anyway, she’s got a subplot with Rebecca Gethings and Gerard Kelly. Gethings is one of the dancers, Kelly is her dad and the “Aladdin” producer. He’s gay—Gervais and Jensen are sure—but he’s got a daughter and they don’t understand.

Instead of it being he’s bi or something, it turns out he’s long in the closet with a suffering wife at home and so on. But, you know, it’s funny.

Because Jensen goes to a party at the house and very strange hijinks.

There’s a level of competency to the episode but it’s not very good. Even for “Extras.”

Extras (2005) s01e03 – Kate Winslet

I can’t imagine Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant had to take notes “Extras” but thankfully some little angel plopped between their shoulders and whispered the right things in their ears for some course correction.

No more is Ashley Jensen marriage and man hungry, now she’s got a regular man, John Kirk. So then Jensen’s subplot instead gets to be she’s not into talking dirty on the phone, which Kirk expects from his ladies, so of course she’s fretting about it because despite being a regular she’s got no character.

Neither does Ricky Gervais, so it’s not like the show’s playing favorites. Merchant’s agent is back. He’s got so little character that lack of character is part of the joke.

Merchant’s pretty funny though.

And Gervais.

Gervais and Merchant also seem to have realized by giving most of the extreme stuff to the guest star—in this episode, Kate Winslet—they get to make Gervais more sympathetic and the celebrity seem even less like a rational human being. Albeit a hilarious less than rational human being. Because Winslet’s fantastic. Just superb. She’s a foul-mouthed, foul-minded, racist bigot who doesn’t learn from any of her mistakes, which somehow makes her less than Gervais in the end.

There’s a subplot involving actress Charlotte Palmer, who Gervais is interested in… romantically. Gervais’s character having any romantic interests whatsoever is kind of new so… whatever. It’s funny. Especially since she’s a Catholic and he’s an atheist.

But then it turns out her sister, Francesca Martinez, has cerebral palsy, which means Gervais is of course going to make fun of her. To her sister. And it’s not going to go well.

The show plays a little loose with one of its punchlines, dragging it out for effect when it doesn’t make any sense as far as the character. Gervais has a pretty solid scene in a Catholic prayer group where they slowly realize he’s an unbeliever.

What’s weird about the atheism subplot is Gervais comes off as a prick about it. Gervais is, off-screen, a somewhat prominent atheist. It’s like he wanted to double-down on mansplained atheism or something.

Still. Really funny stuff. Good for easy, privileged belly laughs.

Extras (2005) s01e02 – Ross Kemp & Vinnie Jones

This episode introduces co-creator, co-writer, and co-director Stephen Merchant in an acting role, presumably a regular. He’s Ricky Gervais’s agent. Gervais is mad because he can get any parts whereas Merchant is mad Gervais can’t get any parts; no one wants Gervais is the idea. Certainly not on the movie he’s working on, a period piece starring Ross Kemp.

Who’s Ross Kemp? He’s a British TV action star, which is apparently a category of acting pursuit….

Gervais sucks up to Kemp, who’s fixated on his ability to beat up other men. He wants to be a real-life “hard man,” like Vinnie Jones, who was a footballer, and is filming a movie across the alley.

Shaun Pye, who I thought was the best thing in the show last episode for his thirty second opening scene, is back again with a lot more to do. And he’s definitely the best thing. Because Gervais’s character is too ill-defined when it comes to his experience of the absurdity around him. It initially appears he’s above the movie star nonsense, but then it seems like he’s abjectly credulous, which puts him below it, making it less about a commentary and more about positioning the show for laughs from punching up and down.

For example, Ashley Jensen’s subplot. She’s man-hungry once again and sets her sights on actor Raymond Coulthard. Their entire arc involves Jensen thinking she’s too stupid for posh Coulthard and Coulthard being the perfect guy… until just the right moment to wound Jensen the most. It’s a thing to do I guess. Not really a flex just… a waste of Jensen’s time and everyone else’s.

Coulthard played young Scrooge in Muppet Christmas Carol, in case you’re having trouble placing him.

It’s got some okay laughs but not very many. It’s nowhere near as funny as last episode, not even once Gervais fumbles his way into escalating tensions with Jones (on Kemp’s behalf).

Clearly the guest stars matter.

Extras (2005) s01e01 – Ben Stiller

It takes about halfway through the episode to learn both leads’ names. One is Ricky Gervais, I mean his character name. Ashley Jensen is the other lead. They’re both movie extras, working on the set of a serious Ben Stiller genocide movie. When the episode starts, it’s them after a shot and they’re talking to another extra and it’s unclear in that moment he’s not a lead. Shaun Pye, I think. He’s funny. For a while I was worried the show wasn’t going to be funny without him around.

I was wrong.

Lots and lots of funny in “Extras.”

Writers and directors Gervais and Stephen Merchant slowly reveal the extent of the heroes’ character defects, whether it’s Gervais manipulating still-grieving genocide survivor Boris Boscovic into a speaking part in the film or Jensen deciding a guy just isn’t for her based on a physical characteristic she hadn’t noticed. But it’s not a sitcom about the situations they naturally find themselves in, it’s one of those British sitcoms where the nasty characters gin up their own situations. Gervais and Jensen do a great job ginning up trouble for themselves, particularly—it turns out—when they’re together.

After trying to get out of Liza Sadovy’s birthday party, both Gervais and Jensen end up wanting to go for different reasons. The evening concludes with Gervais and Jensen being really racist in front of a bunch of bigwigs. It’s hilarious. But it’s a really easy joke. “Extras” seems to be very much about amping up easy jokes to get the biggest laughs or biggest surprises, like how Ben Stiller is a completely self-absorbed asshat who can’t shut up about his box office grosses. He’s got some absolutely phenomenal monologues.

The end of the episode even hits a heartfelt note, which sadly seems appropriately optical for Gervais—turns out he and Jensen are better people even if they’re proudly ignorant racists versus being closest elitists.

Sure, Ricky. (He totally voted leave, didn’t he?)

Show’s funny though.