The genius mind that is Ricky Gervais, what a concept for a comedy series! Managing to pull in some big names to basically take the mickey out of themselves, Gervais gets the big stars to do unbelievable things.

"Extras" is decidedly not for all tastes, but if you have the taste (and sometimes the stomach) for it, it has lots of priceless moments. The peculiar humor of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant stems mostly from their pinpoint observation of the awkwardness and embarrassments of everyday situations and encounters. Andy, a lowly extra, means well but usually says the exact wrong thing at the exact wrong time; his friend Maggie has a good heart but even less social tact. The first season relies more heavily on the famous guest stars; when they shine the episodes shine (case in point: Kate Winslet), when they are weaker, the episodes are weaker (case in point: Les Dennis). The second season is quite different, which is a bold step to take for any sitcom: Andy gets his own show on the BBC, and the focus is on the compromises he has to make to keep his new career afloat. The role of his agent, played by Merchant, is noticeably increased, while the screen time of the guest stars is noticeably decreased (best of all: Ian McKellen, who also has perhaps the funniest line in the entire series: "We need some vaseline over here!"). It took me a while to adjust to these changes, but in retrospect I realized that the second season is on the whole better, funnier, more assured. The series ends with an 80-minute special episode which is as funny and uncomfortable as the rest, but perhaps a tad too depressing. *** out of 4.

I want to start stating that I admire the Comedian Ricky Gervais and after watching "The Office" I was very keen on watching more of him. And Extras is with no doubt one of the most funniest series I have ever watched.Especially Steve Merchant surprised me as a so awkwardly funny character. Also I love Ashley Jensens cute Scottish accent. She also plays a very funny and awkward character. A very good extra (no pun intended) is that every episode has a guest actor like e.g. Ben Stiller, who by the way plays himself brilliantly. Those guest actors play themselves and Rickys Character is a extra at their film sets. The way he interacts with all those great actors is extremely impressing I can totally recommend this to everyone who loves dark British humour. Definitely a 10/10

What a fantastic job Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have done with this show. It really will get you laughing, a proper British comedy.The plot is good and progresses at a good pace, the 2nd series was slightly better for me. The story is brilliant, it has bits of drama too and you really relate to the characters, all of which I feel were perfectly cast.Ricky Gervais as Andy Millman is just brilliant, always failing but eventually getting there with a bit of help from his useless agent Darren Lamb, who Stephen Merchant portrays extremely well. Then there's Ashley Jensen who plays Andy's friend Maggie Jacobs, she is hilarious and always saying the wrong things, she is probably my star of the show! All of the celebrity guest stars are great and really add something special to the show, it was hard to pick which one was my favourite but I'd give a special mention to Kate Winslet and Daniel Radcliffe.Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant done the right thing with this series where they have only done 2 series and 1 feature length special. I loved The Office (UK) and I honestly believe this is on par with it, it really is that good. Buy the box-set for a couple of quid, you won't regret it.10/10