Gervais and Merchant explore the awkward and mine it for comedy. They do this very well. Like the original ‘the Office’ I don’t think this will work for everyone but I thought it was hilarious.

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant follow up the brilliant The Office with the slightly different Extras which moves from an office to film sets. Both focus on the boredom of people who wish that they were doing something else. I’ve always felt that The Office was a drama disguised as a comedy and with the arc of the series it managed to cover both comedy and genuine human emotions in both the main and supporting characters. With “Extras” it’s simplified with a smaller core cast and a more episodic structure. Still funny, but in a very dark and understated way. Gervais is more toned down but the moments of inappropriate comments, uncomfortable situations, and memorable characters remain. With a wonderful chemistry between Ricky Gervais and Ashley Jensen it’s a worthy, but different followup to “The Office”.

I am such a huge fan of the original office that I cried when tim and dawn kissed in the Xmas episode, okay? I am totally the prime candidate to be a huge fan of this show. And well, yeah, I’m not. It was seriously not funny. To the point where I’m not sure i’ll watch the second disc. I only laughed out loud once, and not to give it away I’ll just say tracksuits and chesthair in the Ben Stiller episode. And I will admit that I thought it was funny Ross Kemp was playing Lord Nelson.

I don’t know how to say it, but it was just more of the same kind of Gervais humor, without inovation or the spark that came from actual characters (David Brent, for example). The whole trope of the show is “I can’t believe I just had that conversation with X (fill in famous celebrity here), and I’m sorry that just gets boring and contrived after a while, most notably in the Kate Winslet episode.

Absolutely hysterical. Dry and awkward and than moments that are amazingly comedic and timeless. Where the hell did Ricky Gervais come from? He is just spot on.