‘Extras’ to End with Special Episode

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, BBC, Cable, HBO, The Office

I’m sensing a pattern here with Extras show creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Much like their smash hit The Office (the original Brit version, mind you), their latest series will end after just two seasons, but wrap things up with a special episode. Not that we should be surprised—after all, they did announce that they wouldn’t be filming a third season of the HBO series that follows film extra Andy Millman (played brilliantly by Gervais) and his escapades as he tries to make his big break. The second season looked at Andy’s sad-sack existence after he landed a role on a mediocre sitcom. Pity about this series ending, however, is that it never failed to deliver big-name cameos: Kate Winslet, Orlando Bloom, Daniel Radcliffe, Sir Ian McKellan, David Bowie, and Robert De Niro, among others. The one hour Extras special will begin shooting next month, but the specifics about an airdate have yet to be released. Carolyn Strauss, president of HBO Entertainment, said of the series, “It’s been an honor to present this hilarious series on HBO. I can’t wait to see how Ricky and Stephen will wrap up the saga of Andy Millman.”

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‘Extras’ Calls it Quits, Offers Special

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, BBC, HBO, The Office, Cable/Satellite

You’ll have to excuse me while I sniffle about this news. Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant will not continue with a third season of their show Extras. You may recall that they made the same decision about their first show, The Office—they did, however, wrap up The Office by giving fans a special episode. History is repeating itself here, with Gervais and Merchant ending Extras after just two seasons and offering up a special. If you never saw this little gem, it’s well worth catching a re-run on HBO. The show stars Gervais as actor Andy Millman, with Merchant playing his clueless agent. No word on when the special will air, but hopefully it will bring in more big name celebs (past episodes included Ben Stiller, Kate Winslet, Orlando Bloom, and Daniel Radcliffe, to name a few).

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Ricky Gervais Episode of The Office Coming Soon

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Prime Time, BBC, NBC, Extras, The Office

The November 30th episode of The Office will be a very special episode. Not ‘very special’ in the typical sense of sitcoms (you know, where someone has an eating disorder or discovers their best friend has a drug problem). No, this is special for fans of the original British version of The Office. The November 30th show will be written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the originators of the series. This is the first episode of the American version that the pair has written. In the episode, Steve Carell’s character (Michael) discovers that one of the new employees has a prison record. For those who were curious if the character of Andy from the Stamford office would continue on the series (played by Ed Helms), fear not—in this episode Andy will seek advice from Jim (John Krasinski) on how to pursue Pam (Jenna Fischer). Knowing Gervais and Merchant’s work on both The Office and Extras, the November 30th episode should be nothing short of genius.

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Extras—Season Two Ends the Series

Posted by Wendy Michaels Categories: Comedy, Prime Time, BBC, Cable, HBO, Extras

It’s become the Ricky Gervais Syndrome. Following in the footsteps of his original series, The Office, which ended after two seasons, so too shall Extras suffer the same fate. Gervais’ excellent series Extras is now running the second season on British TV and is expected to air on HBO in 2007. According to Gervais, “At the moment, I don’t think there will be another one. [Co-creator Stephen Merchant] and I have always had this thing where we only like to do two series. It’s like The Office—people are always asking why we didn’t do any more, but we just wanted to leave people wanting more.” Huh, must be a British thing. Here in the states, we run TV series until people just can’t take any more.

So, enjoy it while you can. The great thing about Extras are the cameos, with season two featuring appearances by Orlando Bloom, David Bowie and Daniel Radcliffe. At the end of the first season, Gervais’ character, Andy Millman, was selling a sitcom to the BBC; season two picks up with Andy losing control over the show. Let the laughs begin.

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