Visitor Reviews

Patrick - "Couldn't Get Enough"

Surprisingly self-effacing new character from Ricky. Gervais could have gone all "ooh Hollywood" after the phenominal success of the Office but no he didn't! That's amazing because he has some big stars guesting on this series, but it still came off funny and self-denegrating and Britishly un-Hollywood in a way that makes my whole day. Couldn't get enough of this programme. The Samuel L. Jackson episode was brilliant.

The only real let down for me is Andy's friend Maggie played by Ashley Jensen, she's lovely and a good actress and believable, but she's too much of a straight man character. Maggie should get in on the joke (or pathos) a bit more instead of just witnessing all the chaos unfurl. This is a great follow-up. Of course the Office is still the best sitcom ever, but this new one has taken up a place in my heart it has a Chaplinesque feel to it, perhaps because nothing ever goes right for Andy. And somehow that is just right.

Written by Patrick Moore (not that one), 26th August 2006

Andy - "The Critics Were A Little Un-Fair"

I think the critics were a little harsh with Extras at times. It's not like 'The Office' but then Ricky and Steve never intended it to be. Considering the shadow it was under following on form such a huge success it is a really good show and it did well. The critics made the mistake they always make when writers of a successful sitcom try and write something new, they assume before they've even seen it that it will be rubbish and so their judgement is clouded. They should judge the show on its own without even slightly comparing it to The Office, they are different shows so of course it won't be funny in the same way as they seem to think it should be.

Written by Andy Noakes, 2nd June 2006

Jonkentuk - "Absolute Delight"

An absolute delight, I loved it from start to finish. Better than 'The Office', hmmm, well maybe not, but that isn't a bad thing right. The Stiller cameo may have been a slight disappointment, but glad to see both Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant aren't afraid to make comical gain out of some of the darkest moments in world history, which if left to likes of Jim Davidson or the Bernard Mannings of the world would of purely been offensive. Also Steve and the Barry bloke from Eastenders, were comedy gold. This comedy, not The Office lead me to great American comedy series (influenced or nicked by Ricky Gervais) that this patriotic idiot (me) might of never watched.

Written by Jonkentuk, 2nd May 2006

James - "A Great Sitcom"

Extras was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Although the comedy was subtle, much of it made me laugh out loud which is quite rare for me. The scripts didn't rely too heavily on the guest stars, for example, in episodes 1, 3, 5 and 6, the stars hardly appear at all. The main comedy came from Andy and Maggie who are a perfect double act. Also, please don't compare this to "The Office" as they are completely different shows with different types of humour and Gervais and Merchant were never trying to make a sitcom just like "The Office." Just take "Extras" as what it is - a great sitcom.

Written by James Barrell, 17th April 2006

Anne - "A Brilliant Piece of Work"

I completely disagree with these reviews. I think Extras is a brilliant piece of work from Gervais and Merchant. It's not meant to be anything like The Office, in fact it was their aim to make it worlds away from it. The two characters Maggie and Andy are a perfect double act who bounce off each other in hilarious ways. Sometimes if you re-watch the series if you've only seen it once, it comes across better!

Written by Anne, 7th Feb 2006

Scott - "Enjoyable enough"

After a less than impressive start, Extras improved as it wore on. Arriving in the wake of a barrage of hype, the first episode was a major let down (see series four of Curb Your Enthusiasm for a lesson on how to successfully use Ben Stiller in a sitcom), but the show eventually got in to its stride.

Gervais and Ashley Jensen make an engaging pair of social misfits, whilst appearances by Les Dennis, Kate Winslett and Ross Kemp produce a number of laugh out loud moments. Sadly, the episodes written around American stars (Stiller and Samuel L. Jackson) don't really work, producing an ineffective hotchpotch of US/UK humour - it's hard to escape the feeling that these actors are only there to boost the show's chances of Stateside success.

Written by Scott Thompson, 11th Oct 2005

Ganesh - "not totally impressed"

Well I have to say that it was not the best circumstances to be watching the show, given that the sound on TV I was watching was problematic to say the least, however much I turned up the volume, the voices were muffled, plus there was a lot of noise coming from a party of well meaning Italians in the courtyard below.

Given these extraneous problems, I was not totally impressed I have to say. I highlight the following problems -

• There was no understanding of the background to why these people had become extras. I've been thinking about it myself for some time for the same reasons as Andy Millman I suspect but most people in the audience don't relate to extras, we want to see more of why they did it in the first place

• The pretty Scottish lady, well I didn't have much sympathy for her by the end of the episode and by getting support from Andy for her attitudes I had lost sympathy with him

• It's a really strange place to leave the end of the episode

• What did Ben Stiller add to the story? They could have got two David Hasselhoffs for the same price and it would have been funnier

• Lets have less chat and more visual gags, as you know the sound on my telly's really bad

Written by Ganesh, 23rd July 2005

Paul - "a let down"

Nobody (of sound mind) was expecting 'Extras' to better 'The Office' so it really shouldn't have come as a surprise when it was a let down. But with some inspired lines (quoted endlessly in the pre launch press) and a fresh take on the sitcom genre I could be forgiven for secretly hoping it might fly. Unfortunately however it never even took off.

With no particular setting to anchor it, an unoriginal cameo from Ben Stiller (a movie star who barks about his box office anybody?) and struggling actors as its central characters (does nobody in the business realise how uninteresting this is for us pedestrians?) the show came across as bland, structureless and (worst of all) unfunny. Nobody can knock Gervais' brilliance as a comic writer and actor in The Office but we can knock this lame, over budgeted and frankly poor follow up.

Written by Paul Morgans, 24th July 2005