Extras was perhaps the perfect follow up to The Office by Ricky Gervasis and his unheralded co-writer Stephen Merchant. Merchant is probably as important to Gervasis as Matt Stone is to Trey Parker. If you review Gervasis’s work throughout his career, you’ll notice Stephen Merchant helps out in someway on almost all of it.
As a fan of Seinfeld, I couldn't help but think of Extras as Ricky Gervasis’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. Both shows are follow-ups to hit sitcoms, based loosely around the actors’ real life experiences. The difference here is that Ricky decided to go the pre-office, up and coming route, while Larry David went rich and successful. Both series work, but for very different reasons.
The first season follows Ricky’s character (Andy Millman) as an extra, as he struggles along with his best friend, Maggie, to get back to real acting, begging and pleading for just a few lines in each episode. The season is best known for its great guest appearances by Hollywood stars, who no doubt wanted to be a part of the show, primarily as a result of Ricky’s previous success on The Office. Season one is very much your typical story of a struggling actor trying to make it to the top, but Ricky Gervasis and awkward moments with guest stars make it very enjoyable.
The second season is really where the show takes off and we see Andy Millman’s career evolve as his hit sitcom permeires with record ratings (think Two and a Half Men, rather than The Office). He is disappointed with the broad appeal of his sitcom based on its generic catchphrases and simple plots, rather than the intellectual/critical appeal that Andy claims to want. Ricky Gervasis was able to have both from The Office, but most are not so lucky. Often, it seems that artists are forced as some point to choose, which is more important, money/fame or the art.
Warning(completely unrelated rant to follow)
This can be seen from the contrast between Family Guy and South Park (apologies to Trey Parker for mentioning them in the same sentence). Both shows started off with their own niche markets. Both shows made their creator richer than they probably could have ever dreamed to be, but that is the point when the two shows really diverged both in quality and creative control. Seth Macfarlane, handed the show off to his writers and realized that he could makes 3 times as much on basically the same show (Family Guy, American Dad, and the Cleveland Show). Compare that with Matt and Trey who have continued to write, produce, and direct every episode of South Park over the last 15 years. When they were on breaks from South Park, they created a movie made with marionettes and a Broadway show. These are clearly not the best ways to appeal to the masses, but they have been able to keep that integrity that Andy Millman so badly wanted.
The crowning jewel of the Extras series comes from the hour and a half finale. (Much like the finale of the british version of The Office). Most of the episode involves Andy Milman hitting rock bottom, as perfectly shown by his character agreeing to be on the british version of “Celebrity Big Brother.” Once he is inside, he finally realizes how far he has fallen in the effort to gain fame that he never really wanted. Capped off with a brilliant 5 minute rant about fame.
The series serves as a great followup to The Office because you know it is just that. For Ricky Gervasis, to go back and write an extremely comical, but also thoughtful sitcom that undoubtedly included portions of his past made for a great TV series. Unlike the british version of The Office, there is no need to make an American version of this show, nor could you if you tried. Overall, Extras is a great show, and a must see for anyone who enjoyed The Office.
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