A rule to live by: when Ricky Gervais does a comedy special, rent it.
Sincerely,
Motley Queue
Showing posts with label Ricky Gervais. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ricky Gervais. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Extras Series Finale
Dear Ricky Gervais,
It really pains me to write this. Really pains me. You have no idea. You see, I’ve been in love with you for a very long time. I adore everything you’ve ever written or acted in. So you can imagine how hard it is for me to break up with you. And no, I didn’t plan to do this through a letter, but face-to-face is more difficult given that you don’t even know I exist. And the fact that you’d probably issue a restraining order against me that bandied about the term “stalker” if we ever did meet.
Alas…
I just watched the series finale episode to Extras, "The Extra Special Series Finale" and I’ve determined that we need to spend a little time apart. It’s not me, Ricky. It’s you.
You are a comedian, Ricky. You are a funny man. So to make me endure nearly two hours of mostly humorless, indulgent and sentimental tripe was just not fair. There is a reason that, say, Chris Rock has never been cast as Hamlet. We like our funny men to be funny. Seeing you mope through two hours of film was like going to a dry wedding. It was a total bummer.
Don’t get me wrong, you did have some moments of sublime humor and your castmates, particularly your hapless agent, were brilliant. And I did love the ending. But all in all it was a bit of a bummer. So we have to spend a little time apart Ricky. But don't worry, like any good stalker, I will be back.
Abiento,
M.Q.
It really pains me to write this. Really pains me. You have no idea. You see, I’ve been in love with you for a very long time. I adore everything you’ve ever written or acted in. So you can imagine how hard it is for me to break up with you. And no, I didn’t plan to do this through a letter, but face-to-face is more difficult given that you don’t even know I exist. And the fact that you’d probably issue a restraining order against me that bandied about the term “stalker” if we ever did meet.
Alas…
I just watched the series finale episode to Extras, "The Extra Special Series Finale" and I’ve determined that we need to spend a little time apart. It’s not me, Ricky. It’s you.
You are a comedian, Ricky. You are a funny man. So to make me endure nearly two hours of mostly humorless, indulgent and sentimental tripe was just not fair. There is a reason that, say, Chris Rock has never been cast as Hamlet. We like our funny men to be funny. Seeing you mope through two hours of film was like going to a dry wedding. It was a total bummer.
Don’t get me wrong, you did have some moments of sublime humor and your castmates, particularly your hapless agent, were brilliant. And I did love the ending. But all in all it was a bit of a bummer. So we have to spend a little time apart Ricky. But don't worry, like any good stalker, I will be back.
Abiento,
M.Q.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Week 11: Extras, Season 2, Disc 1
I've got to rent something crappy soon because it's getting increasingly harder to think of anything sarcastic to say when the rental is so good. So I won't even try with Extras, Season 2. It's just plain hilarious. The second season is even funnier than the first, with the three episodes on this disc starring Orlando Bloom, David Bowie and Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter for the three of you muggles who don't know). I'd heard that the David Bowie episode was a killer and it didn't dissapoint. Bowie bursting into spontaneous song about what a fat loser Andy Millman is(Ricky Gervais)...well, it's priceless.
And nothing could have prepared us for seeing little Harry Potter hitting on anything with boobs and carrying around an unrolled condom as proof that he's ready to "have the sexual intercourse" as he calls it. Brilliant.
I swear this show would never work in an Americanized version because no American actors would allow themselves to be portrayed in such embarrassing ways. I think the act of hiring your own publicist automatically removes the sense-of-humor-chip from your brain.
If you have HBO (which we don't) and a DVR (which we also don't), you're committing a crime if you're not watching this show. Jesus. I just re-read that sentence and realized I need to get a life. Or at least a DVR. Which I think would be like plopping Lindsay Lohan in a cocaine factory and handing her a box of Ziploc baggies and one of those enormous purses she carries and telling her not to take anything.
And nothing could have prepared us for seeing little Harry Potter hitting on anything with boobs and carrying around an unrolled condom as proof that he's ready to "have the sexual intercourse" as he calls it. Brilliant.
I swear this show would never work in an Americanized version because no American actors would allow themselves to be portrayed in such embarrassing ways. I think the act of hiring your own publicist automatically removes the sense-of-humor-chip from your brain.
If you have HBO (which we don't) and a DVR (which we also don't), you're committing a crime if you're not watching this show. Jesus. I just re-read that sentence and realized I need to get a life. Or at least a DVR. Which I think would be like plopping Lindsay Lohan in a cocaine factory and handing her a box of Ziploc baggies and one of those enormous purses she carries and telling her not to take anything.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Week 6: Extras, Season 1, Disc 1
My husband and I are currently baby poor (meaning that every spare dollar we have goes to daycare and diapers and tiny jars of things like “pureed pea and ground beef soufflé”). As such, we have no extra dimes for luxuries such as HBO. So, we watch the Sopranos and Entourage via Netflix rentals a year after we’ve heard all the spoilers already. It kind of sucks, but every once in a while we stumble across a gem that hasn’t had a lot of hype, like the lovely little pearl called Extras.
This show is the brainchild of Ricky Gervais, creator of the BBC’s original The Office series. In Extras, he plays essentially the same verbal-diarrhea-plagued character he did on The Office, only this time as a man making a living as a movie extra. It’s a great premise because every half-hour episode centers on a different movie set and has a different guest star. The first episode, entitled “Kate Winslet”, has a hilarious story line of Kate Winslet instructing the extras how to properly have dirty phone sex. All while she’s dressed in a nun’s habit. Brilliant.
The show is a lot of fun and Gervais is a master at developing socially awkward dialogue that makes you squirm in your seat. I love Ricky Gervais so much that I’m absolutely convinced that if I ever met him, I would become so completely baffled and tongue-tied that instead of saying all the hilarious, witty things I had planned, our meeting would instead go something like this:
RICKY: Oh, ‘ello, then. Nice to meet you.
ME: Ha ha ha ha! So funny!
RICKY: I just said ‘ello love. That wasn’t funny. It was jus’ a regular greeting. A salutation if you will.
ME: Wheeeeeee!
RICKY: [confused] What’s that?
ME: Duur, uh…
RICKY: [whispering to his companion] What’s this then? You didn’t tell me she was mental.
ME: No, ah…I not…mental.
RICKY: She’s a complete sodding retard, i’nt she? Look a’ that. She’s got drool runnin’ down the side of ‘er mouth.
ME: [trying to touch his face] No! I smart! I really smart, Ricky Gervais! Ricky Gervais!
RICKY: [winking to his companion] Oh, yes. Sure you are. You’re the bloody Noble prize winner, aren’t you, love? Got the trophy back at home, do ya? Right next to your white paper on splittin’ the atom?
ME: Glurspank!
RICKY: Let’s get out of here. I don’t want to get her retard germs on me.
ME: [after Ricky leaves] Bloody hell.
This show is the brainchild of Ricky Gervais, creator of the BBC’s original The Office series. In Extras, he plays essentially the same verbal-diarrhea-plagued character he did on The Office, only this time as a man making a living as a movie extra. It’s a great premise because every half-hour episode centers on a different movie set and has a different guest star. The first episode, entitled “Kate Winslet”, has a hilarious story line of Kate Winslet instructing the extras how to properly have dirty phone sex. All while she’s dressed in a nun’s habit. Brilliant.
The show is a lot of fun and Gervais is a master at developing socially awkward dialogue that makes you squirm in your seat. I love Ricky Gervais so much that I’m absolutely convinced that if I ever met him, I would become so completely baffled and tongue-tied that instead of saying all the hilarious, witty things I had planned, our meeting would instead go something like this:
RICKY: Oh, ‘ello, then. Nice to meet you.
ME: Ha ha ha ha! So funny!
RICKY: I just said ‘ello love. That wasn’t funny. It was jus’ a regular greeting. A salutation if you will.
ME: Wheeeeeee!
RICKY: [confused] What’s that?
ME: Duur, uh…
RICKY: [whispering to his companion] What’s this then? You didn’t tell me she was mental.
ME: No, ah…I not…mental.
RICKY: She’s a complete sodding retard, i’nt she? Look a’ that. She’s got drool runnin’ down the side of ‘er mouth.
ME: [trying to touch his face] No! I smart! I really smart, Ricky Gervais! Ricky Gervais!
RICKY: [winking to his companion] Oh, yes. Sure you are. You’re the bloody Noble prize winner, aren’t you, love? Got the trophy back at home, do ya? Right next to your white paper on splittin’ the atom?
ME: Glurspank!
RICKY: Let’s get out of here. I don’t want to get her retard germs on me.
ME: [after Ricky leaves] Bloody hell.
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