Extras,Ricky Gervais??? much-anticipated follow-up to The Office, is a quieter affair, and a little less accessible that its award-laden predecessor. But across the six episodes on this first season DVD set are several episodes that will richly reward repeated viewings.

Gervais plays Andy Millman, an actor whose roster of jobs seems to consistently consist of extras work. Each episode follows him on a different production, and also brings in a notable guest star. Lining up throughout the series are the likes of Samuel L Jackson, Kate Winslet and Ben Stiller. And while their presence undoubtedly adds something to each carefully crafted episode, it???s perhaps those with the lesser names that show the programme on top form--certainly the appearance of Les Dennis makes for an excellent half hour of comedy-drama.

At the core though is Gervais??? Millman--a far easier character to warm to than David Brent--and Ashley Jensen???s marvellous Maggie Jacobs. It???s these two who consistently provide the show???s highlights, and while the headlines have been generated by the all-star roster of names attracted to appear in Extras, it???s the two less showy characters who work the best.

Extras isn???t a show full of belly laughs, and its fanbase is likely to be smaller than that of The Office. But it???s still a quality creation, properly crafted, with an awful lot to it to enjoy and appreciated.--Simon Brew

I found the first series of Ricky Gervais's "Extras" to be mildly amusing and clever,but certainly not as funny as "The Office".I thought that the series bore certain similarities to "I'm Alan Partridge" as well ; down on his luck middle aged man seeking his big break working alongside a slightly dysfunctional but loyal female.But again the "Partidge" series was much funnier and at times hilarious. Each of the six episodes of "Extras" are set on different film sites with each one featuring different guest stars,such as Les Dennis , Ben Stiller and Patrick Stewart. Gervais plays an extra alongside his friend and fellow extra Maggie,a Scottish wannabe maneater, and it is their relationship that is the highlight of "Extras" and what helps to makes it so entertaining. There are no particularly memorable scenes , or especially hilarious ones, but there are good, well developed characters in every episode of the series and intelligent and humourous scripts. The Stiller and Dennis episodes were probably the best of the bunch in my opinion.

This is one of the best and funniest programmes I have even seen. There are just so many laugh out moments in this series. The "extra" Maggie Jacobs totally steals the show from under everyone's noses. The scene where she and Andy are talking about Ross Kemp and the Mitchell Brothers is priceless and the racism test Andy gives Maggie had me doubled up with laughter, the best abs workout I've had in ages. The 2nd dics is very good and the deleted scene with the gypsy joke will have tears running down your face.

Buy, watch, enjoy and laugh

First of all I'd like to say I'm a big fan of Ricky Gervais. I LOVED The Office and The Ricky Gervais Podcast. I also liked Ricky's stand up shows. But Extras just isn't funny. My guess is it's not based on anything real, unlike the aforementioned. It's directionless and mildly funny jokes are regurgitated while Gervais can't decide if Andy is the voice of reason or another wally and keeps slipping in and out of character, whereas David Brent was not only a clearly defined character, but he did such an excellent job of portraying that character. Extras picks up slightly episode 6 (Patrick Stewart) when Andy is hired by the BBC to write a pilot for a sitcom based on his own personal experiences (obviously, The Office). Only then does the plot begin to progress. Ricky Gervais should've written about his past personal experiences, why not a sitcom based on a manager trying to break a band in London (he was, after all, Suede's manager before they broke and he clearly loves music)? They could lampoon the music biz - I'm sure there's enough real material there to be exploited. I gave it two stars because I did have the odd chuckle, especially in the scenes where Stephen Merchant featured as as Andy's inept agent.

Ricky Gervais once again proves that he is the best british comic for years. His subtle humour is a one off and he has a very special talent. His dvd Extras is a six part series and is not to be missed.

A few years back, Ricky Gervais created "The Office," a Dilberty satire on office work. Now, he's created "Extras," a wickedly funny satire on showbiz and acting. And the fact that prominent actors appear in it -- as warped versions of themselves -- is just the icing on the comedy cake.

Andy Millman (Gervais) and Maggie Jacobs (Ashley Jenson) are film extras -- Andy is embittered by his lack of success and his inept agent (Stephen Merchant, Gervais' work partner), while well-meaning Maggie merely pursues a series of crew members on the films they work in.

The first episode features the two working in a biopic directed by a brusque Ben Stiller ("Would you stop going on about your f**king dead wife?"), and Andy gets himself kicked off the set. Subsequently, he ends up in the middle of a feud between UK footballer-turned-actor and Eastenders star Vinnie Jones and Ross Kemp.

In the following episodes, Andy and Maggie blunder around with various stars: Kate Winslet in a nun costume, who teaches Maggie how to talk dirty to her new boyfriend ("I'd love it if you stuck your Willy Wonka in between my Oompa-Loompas!"); Samuel L. Jackson, whom Maggie mixes up with Laurence Fishbourne; and Patrick Stewart, who is writing a movie about mind powers, and as many naked women as possible.

Part of the genius of "Extras" is that it isn't much like any other showbiz parodies -- the lead characters are on the lowest rung of acting, and the big egos are real stars making fun of themselves. Sometimes they play really nasty versions of themselves, such as Winslet saying that she's only making a Holocaust film so she can nab an Oscar.

The other half of the comic genius is Gervais' direction, with most of the jokes based on socially awkward situations. It's all about cringing and giggling at once. Those hideously embarrassing situations -- usually with some hilarious dialogue involving the star guests (Stewart: "The reason you're hearing my rich, sexy voice is that Andy isn't man enough to apologise himself, so he's asked me to do it").

And instead of the obnoxious boss, Andy underplays a sort of befuddled, cynical low-rung worker, but you can really connect with his struggles. He's great when he does things like inadvertantly insult a priest by babbling about pedophilia. Jensen is clumsily charming as Maggie, who tries to be nice to everyone but says all the wrong things ("I like lots of other things, you know -- white or black!").

"Extras" is a hilarious Britcom with talent to burn and an even funnier acting/directing/writing job by Gervais and Merchant. Absolutely sidesplitting.