Andy Millman (Ricky Gervais) is an actor with ambition and a script. Reduced to working as an extra with a useless agent, Andy's attempts to boost his career invariably end in failure and embarrassment.
''Extras" goes as much for pathos as it does for open laughs, as its backstage nobodies strive for their close-ups. Something extra lurks around the edges of Gervais's show, and that would be desperation.
Gervais' usual wit and observation are brought to the table in a fresh, exciting context, and even if you find yourself hating Extras, chances are you'll at least appreciate what Gervais was attempting to do.
"Extras" was one of our first peeks behind the curtain in a century that would showcase many meta industry narratives, and few could compete with Gervais' deft blend of charming original characters and hilarious Hollywood commentary.
The wonder is that [Ricky Gervais] has managed to do it again with Extras, exploiting a comparable depth of comedy trickling into pathos and excruciation, but in no sense simply repeating himself.
More worryingly, Extras was so reliant on its characters offending minorities that it looked as if Gervais and co-creator Stephen Merchant were having their cake and eating it.
The real key is the characters that Gervais and Merchant have created, people you may not always like but understand totally, even at their worst moments.
Even if Extras never accedes to The Office's heights of comic sublimity, it's still a rare find...a series that combines the ascendant genre of cringe comedy with Gervais' rich comic gifts, and his trademark humanism.
Maggie was very much the heart of Extras - unconditionally kind and completely free of malice, yet constantly getting in trouble due to her naivety, lack of internal censor and ineptitude in social situations.
The comedy earns most of its laughter from low-key conversations and awkward moments. As a show-business story, Extras is more inside than The Office. Yet the guest performers are amusing.
