Extras - Series 1 DVD > Reviews > EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Good
Special Effects	Standard
How does it compare to similar films?	Good

Advantages:	Its the Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant combo back with a vengance !
Disadvantages:	There are only six episodes so far  : o(

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

As I am a huge Office fan I couldn't wait for Extra's to be aired and when it finally was I can safely say it didn't dissapoint. I rushed out and bought the DVD as soon as it came out, here's what I thought..

Extras is the new Sit-com by the creators of the the amazing worldwide smash hit The Office.
Andy Millman (Ricky Gervais) is an actor. Well he is clearly just an Extra but he will argue till he's blue in the face to convince you of his acting abilities. After giving up his day job and getting himself an agent (Stephen Merchant) who represents a rather small portfolio including Andy and "Barry from Eastenders" - No matter how many times Sean Williams tries to tell him he is still "Barry from Eastenders". Andy finds himself spending most of his days with fellow actor and friend Maggie Jacobs (Ashley Jenson) stuck in the green room talking nonsense, making fun of other Extras and envying the A-List Stars.
Andy is desperate to land himself a big part but finds it difficult to even get a line. The series sees him trying everything he possibly can to befriend or bribe the A-Lister's to sort him out with a line...unfortunately always ending in failure.
Maggie is a serial manhunter and spends her time seeking out different men she can woo...usually successfully, until she gets them back to her place and she manages to fluff things up for herself one way or another. This coupled with the humous situations the pair get themselves in to makes for a seriously funny, clever and entertaining breath of fresh air in the sit-com world.

Ross Kemp makes a cameo appearance in the first episode trying to keep up his hard man image. He tells Andy he was in the SAS and would be able to beat up Vinnie Jones, who convieniently is working on the set next to Ross - will Ross prove his manliness or walk away with his tail between his legs?

Ben Stiller stars in the second episode, he is directing a film based on true events of a man who's wife was brutally murdered. The problem is that Ben doesn't seem to have any interest in anyone unless they are talking about how well "dodgeball" or "Meet the Parents" did at the box office. Will Andy put up with Ben's chovanistic ways or stand up for himself and the rest of extra's?

The third episode see's Kate Winslet providing Maggie with some interesting advice on her love life, Seeing Kate dressed as a nun whilst reciting things that Maggie should say during sex is simply hilarious. Will Kate's advice work for Maggie, or will it all go to pot?

Les Dennis stars in the fourth episode and my personal favourite. This sees Andy land a role as the "camp" genie in the Christmas panotmime Aladdin. Les Dennis is trying to revive his star status (farily unsucessfully) and has been cast as Aladdin. With a new, blonde 26 year old finance on his arm, Les thinks his life is back on track, but when Andy see's Les's finance getting a little bit close to another man on set what will he do?

The fifth episode stars Samuel L Jackson and see's Andy and Maggie both make new friends, The problem is that Maggie's new flame is black and she is worried he will think she is racist (even though she isn't). Will a conversation Samuel over hears about this problem between Maggie and Andy end in smiles or tears?

The series is rounded up by starring a rather perverted Patrick Stewart. Andy finally gets the big break he is looking for after Patrick passes a script Andy has written to some of his contacts. A meeting with the BBC to arrange a Pilot for the Sit-Com he has written is arranged and Andy is over joyed at this potential big break. But, will everything go wrong for Andy when he tells Maggie that the man he is working on the screen play with is "too gay"?

~ Special Features on the DVD ~

• Behind the scenes documentary look at Extras - The Difficult Second Album - Apart from the sneeky (well hardly sneeky its completely blatant) plug for the Wernham Hogg/Office stationary Merchandise, Ricky and Stephen talk seriously (?!) about the making of Extra's and how they went about it from the beginning, its really interesting and very funny. They discuss the A-list celebs and what they were like to work with, the Samuel L Jackson and Les Dennis stories are really good.
• Finding Leo - Ricky and Stephen take it upon themselves to find a replacement for Jude Law who let them down right at the last minute, in this case they have had a few glasses of wine and knyckle down to get Leonardo DiCaprio to make a cameo appearance in place of Jude. However they don't have much to go on and end up calling the likes of "Directory Enquiries" for Leo's Agents number! Its quite funny and watchable - not the best special feature though.
• Taping Nigel - This is all very Silly, Nigel is the Sit-Com's editor and friend of Ricky's. Anyone who has seen the Office or Ricky's Stand up DVD special features will begin to see a pattern starting to emerge...Ricky likes to tape things to Nigel to keep himself entertained. It is very childish - but it kept me briefly amused!
• Deleted scenes - Most of the deleted scenes (i think there are 6) are pretty medioke, However, they so should have kept the one when Ricky sings "Mary's Boy Child" at the church meeting in his Saturday night fever outfit - look out for it coz its hilarious!
• Outtakes - There are simply LOADS of them about 70 or something silly like that, they are really...err...samey actually..Ricky's constant laughter can get a bit tedious after about number 56! There are a few funny ones, ie. Les Dennis baring all and Ross Kemp trying so hard to say "Special Army Soliders" -LOL!

~ Quotes ~
There are loads of really funny quotes...you'll hear them for yourself when you watch it, but here are just a couple of my favourites...(I've written them as I remember them so they aren't exactly as they were said)

Andy: Which one are you Starksy or Hutch I can never remember?
Ben Stiller: Oh and you think thats funny do you?
Andy: Well you tell me you were in it!

Black guy: There isn't a lot of call for black faces on televison
Maggie: Crimewatch...in the reconstructions, they must be always looking for black people on Crimewatch.

Andy: Do you even know what SAS stands for?
Ross Kemp: Special Army Soliders..

~ Conclusion ~
Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant with the exception of perhaps Peter Kaye are one of the most talented and funny writers of the 21st Century. Their ability to write sit-com's that appeal to all walks of life at all ages is amazing. My parents and I have very different views on "comedy" but we all agree that Ricky and his team have a certain something that manages to captivate the viewer and keep them entertained whilst tackling subjects that many people may see as controversial with a light hearted humour that offends no-one. Throughout this series Gervais manages to "make fun" as it were of as many stereotypes as possible from religion to colour to disabled people. You may be thinking - hang on a minute, making jokes about these things just isn't funny, well usually I would agree with you but Gervais has managed to write the script in a way that makes it - well cringeworthy at points but funny, you tend to be laughing at the person making the joke rather than at the person (if you get what I mean?!)
The A-List stars I have to say really are a credit to themselves, and really good sports. How they managed to get like likes of Samuel L Jackson to appear is beyond me. To laugh at themselves like that, knowing that however many other million people are going to be doing the same is beyond me. Les Dennis deserves an award, this is without a shadow of a doubt my favourite episode.
All in all this is an absolutely fantastic series, Gervais's facial expressions are laugh-out-loudable and I simply cannot wait for the next series....is there a next series?? Does anyone know?!

BBC
2 disc DVD
Directed by: Stephen Merchant & Ricky Gervais
Running time: 2 hours 55 minutes
Certificate: 15

Cost: I paid £12.99 on www.play.com although the price will vary slightly depending on where you get it from.

Thanks for Reading!