Extras

Just finished watching the box set of Ricky Gervais’ Extras. I’ve seen an episode here and there but wanted to watch it from start to finish. I really enjoyed it and after watching it in a series, no wonder, it has a lot of the same characteristics as another one of my all-time favourite shows – Seinfeld. Here are some of the similarities I noticed.

1. Some of Seinfeld’s bests episodes revolved around a misunderstanding as does Extras. Example, what about the scratch that was mistaken for a pick. “If we pick, do we not bleed?”

2. Jerry has Newman as a nemesis. Andy has Greg.

3. Andy is selfish like Jerry. Both of them reacted in a similar way when parents ask them to visit their sick kids. I just caught the bubble boy episode of Seinfeld recently and laughed all over again.

4. Who is Kramer? Well, Maggie has the same quality as Kramer in that she is too honest. Whatever she is thinking she says. The unconventional social interactions, well Darren, Andy’s manager covers that territory.

5. Some of the best moments in Extras are the guest stars. Seinfeld even has that with Keith Hernandez as Jerry’s man crush and of course, the Velvet Fog episode was a classic.

However, Extras has an unexpected dark quality that one might not expect in a sitcom which makes it different. If you like Ricky Gervais, it is must see tv.