The Extra Special Series Finale
- Episode aired Dec 16, 2007
- TV-14
- 1h 24m
Andy is unhappy with the fame he has achieved. When a new agent approaches him, Andy fires Darren and quits 'When The Whistle Blows'. Meanwhile, Maggie has hit rock bottom, having given up w... Read allAndy is unhappy with the fame he has achieved. When a new agent approaches him, Andy fires Darren and quits 'When The Whistle Blows'. Meanwhile, Maggie has hit rock bottom, having given up working as an extra and living in a tiny, dismal flat. Andy however is too self obsessed to... Read allAndy is unhappy with the fame he has achieved. When a new agent approaches him, Andy fires Darren and quits 'When The Whistle Blows'. Meanwhile, Maggie has hit rock bottom, having given up working as an extra and living in a tiny, dismal flat. Andy however is too self obsessed to notice Maggie's plight.
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Featured reviews
Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale is a TRIUMPH!
Extra "Extras"
Gervais is playing with a lot of clichés here and as ever, many of them are in character form, particularly his new hot-shot agent but as before he manages to mix well the humour and the bathos, the latter we see in particular through his worsening treatment of his down-on-her-luck old chum Ashley Jensen's Maggie.
Again as before, Gervais makes use of his A-list contacts to bring in some very funny celebrity cameos, with George Michael lampooning his wastrel image, Clive Owen as an odious, sexist, dismissive leading man and Gordon Ramsey as a loud-mouthed, vulgar social climber, with maybe two out of three of these looking like rather thinly-veiled thumbmail sketches drawn from life. Stephen Marchant and Shaun Williamson (Barry from "Eastenders") are also caught in the fall-out from Andy's rebellion and wind up hilariously working at "Carphone Warehouse".
Arguably Gervais overloads his tale with too much morality where a few more belly-laughs might have been welcome, but by the time Andy recovers his soul at the end, I had found much to savour over the intervening ninety minutes and admired his ability to so effectively satirise the lives of the acting community.
Oh god what a comedy masterpiece...
Literally a comedy masterpiece 💚
Extra Special Series Finale: Very sharp at times, too preachy at others but overall clever and engaging
Deconstructing Harry. If you're a Woody Allen fan and you've seen it then you'll know why I am referring to it here. In that film I was not only laughing but actively shocked at how personal and aggressive Allen seemed to be towards himself and the theme of the film appeared to be self-loathing. With the last ever episode of Extras, Gervais and Merchant appear to be going for the same thing, using their character to attack the celebrity culture in the UK but also managing to deal with the fact that Andy is wanting the fame just as much as he hates what he has to do to get it. At its best it is a searing watching and quite thrilling with it. Those expecting a lot of laughs will be disappointed though because the special produces sporadic laughs rather than anything consistent. I wasn't overly bothered by this though because to me the focus was rightly on the "message".
I want to say "point" but sadly the main weakness of the special is that it is occasionally does get preachy and surprisingly obvious. For example look at the rather clumsy use of music while the characters struggle with their thoughts or situations in a series of clever shots. It will work if you are totally into the moment but for me it just seemed uninspired and flat where so much of it was sharp and insightful. It is the smart writing that keeps the majority from being preachy and it should be commended for this, even if it is still prone to lapses. The cast is starry but Gervais is the star. He shows he is able to do drama as well as comedy and he is genuinely touching at times and credit to him for allowing the writing to damn him and not leave him to one side. Merchant is left to one side although he is funny and entertaining in his sections, working well with the two Eastenders stars. Talking of them actually I was again surprised by how willing everyone was to send themselves up. George Michael and Clive Owen in particular but more cutting were the Big Brother housemates and Hale & pace. Gordon Ramsey was good value too.
Overall then an impacting conclusion to the series that goes out on a very sharp and engaging high. It isn't hilarious and here and there it gets a bit too obvious and preachy for its own good (particularly coming from a man who is looking down at the problem rather than up at it) but mostly it is cutting and intelligent and a fitting end to the series.
Finally Gervais isn't the one making the cameo!
In this 90 minuter, Gervais battles with his ambition to create something admirable but struggles to overcome his urge for fame. Colliding with a host of superbly performed celeb cameos he finds himself free-falling into mediocrity and is forced to re-arrange his priorities.
This was a 'special', deserved of the title. Gervais rewarded viewers who stuck with him through the previous two series which gave us no plot, no story and over-reliance on star cameos. In Extras, Gervais ambition had always been to communicate his view on the TV and Film industry but, in the series, this message always became diluted.
In the 'Special' the cameos were used sparingly whilst that enforced awkward silence that usually accompanies his work was rarely used. It was out with the dead-air moments and in with themes and story. Gervais performed well, proving himself to be a capable actor at long last, with some excellent dramatic and emotional moments - his final speech particularly resounding, and yes, quite moving too.
What I like about Extras and this special episode is his emphatic case against lazy comedy and cheap gags. He subtly makes numerous digs to Catherine Tate and shows like Hardware.
Though they've taken their time, I believe Gervais and Merchant have finally made their point, or rather, protest against the fame factory. I strongly recommend this, not just as an excellently written comedy but as an engaging piece that examines celebrity culture. It's comedy with something a little extra. Yes, finally, Gervais isn't the one making the cameo!
Did you know
- TriviaKarl Pilkington: as an autograph collector waiting outside The Ivy.
- GoofsAndy calls Ridley Scott an "Oscar-winning director." Scott has never won an Oscar.
- Quotes
Andy Millman: No. What are we doing? Selling ourselves. Selling everything. The happiest day of my life - oh, quick, I'll do the invites and bake a cake and get a press tent. Must have a press tent - it's a wedding. I must see pictures of meself with other people I'm in the programme with. Oh, now I'm pregnant - we must televise the birth. Quick, see if Ryan Seacrest will present it. Maybe it'll make E! channel's "100 Greatest Caesarians". I'm not having a go at you. I'm just sick of these celebrities just living their lives out in the open all the time. Why would you do that? It's like these pop stars who choose the perfect moment to go into rehab. They call their publicist before they call a taxi. Then they come out and they do their second autobiography - this one's called "Love Me or I'll Kill Myself". Well, kill yourself then. And the papers lap it up. They follow us around and that makes people think we're important, and that makes us think we're important. If they stop following us around, taking pictures of us, those people wouldn't take to the streets going "Oh quick, I need a picture of Cameron Diaz with a pimple". They wouldn't care; they'd get on with something else. They'd get on with their lives. You open the paper and you see a picture of Lindsay Lohan getting out of a car, and the headline is "Cover Up Lindsay, We Can See Your Knickers". Of course you can see her knickers - your photographer is lying in the road, pointing his camera up her dress to see her knickers! You're literally the gutter press. And fuck you, the makers of this show, as well. You can't wash your hands in this. You can't keep going "Oh, it's exploitation, but it's what the public want". No, the Victorian freak show never went away. Now it's called "Big Brother" or "American Idol", where, in the preliminary rounds, we wheel out the bewildered to be sniggered at by multimillionaires. And fuck you for watching this at home. Shame on you. And shame on me. I'm the worst of all 'cause I'm one of those people that goes "Oh, I'm an entertainer, it's in my blood". Yeah, it's in my blood, 'cause a real job's too hard. I would love to have been a doctor - too hard. Didn't want to put the work in. Would love to be a war hero - I'm too scared. So I go "Oh, it's what I do". And I have someone bollocked if my cappuccino is cold, or if they look at me the wrong way. You know what a friend of mine once said? They said I'll never be happy 'cause I'll never be famous enough. And they were right. And if you're watching this, I'm so sorry. You're my best friend. You're my only friend. And you never did anything wrong. It was everything else. I'll never do that again. I'll never treat you like that again. It's eating me that you asked me a stupid question once, and I just... I could've answered it and I didn't, 'cause I was... I'll answer it now: I'd be the penguin, 'cause I could eat the flying fish. I know what you're thinking - "why doesn't the fish fly away?" Well, it can't really fly; it's all glide and flap. They should be called 'glidey flappy fish'. I'm so sorry.
Darren Lamb: I've been waiting to hear that, mate.
Shaun Williamson: I don't think he was...
Darren Lamb: He's a good guy. He is a good guy.
Shaun Williamson: Yeah.
Andy Millman: I'm gonna go now. Cheers everyone.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The 60th Primetime Emmy Awards (2008)
Details
- Runtime
- 1h 24m(84 min)
- Color