Customer Reviews
Really funny! - By: David Addison, 23 Jul 2008 
I fully enjoyed this series.It was very well written,and I reallly liked the story of Andy Millman,a man who dreams of hitting the big time,as a full time actor.However,he has a useless agent that can only get him extra work.What's so good about it,is the effort he puts in to try & get noticed.As always though,just when he thinks he's done it,a major disaster blows up in his face,instantly shattering his dreams.So,its back to square one as a lowly extra.Its good to see some major stars in the show,constantly being asked by Andy,desperate to get the big break.Its hilarious,and I fully recommend it!
A Classic to Keep - By: Kenny_Consumer, 16 Jul 2008 Cleese left us Python & Fawlty Towers. Gervais leaves us the Office & Extras. I'm still enjoying Cleese to this day & I'm expecting the same will be true of Gervais in twenty years. This one's a keeper, as they say.
Awesome - By: Mr. G. Watson, 13 Apr 2008 A brilliant show, the only thing that was a bit of a let down was that there wasn't enough of Karl Pilkington's round head.
great - By: D. Pill, 19 Jan 2008 series one is definatly funnier than the second series but they are both still funny hope they put the christmas special on dvd
Their difficult 2nd album! - By: Mr. Damian J. McGrath, 11 Oct 2007 
This is the second series from the writing duo of Stephen Merchant & Ricky Gervais, after their super-successful debut of The Office, & comparisons are immediately going to be made.
The Office relied on awkward, embarrassing humour, & Extras is no different. It's where the writers talents obviously lie, & Gervais is terrific at playing the lead role.
However, before I get into describing the shows many positives, a few negative comments to balance things out.
The show isn't quite as good as it could have been. It is a very funny show, but laughs are sometimes hard to come by. A major reason for this is the portrayal of Gervais' lead character, Andy Millman. In The Office, Gervais' David Brent character was sociallly awkward, embarrassing, & unjustifiably egotistical but he was blissfully unaware of this, so it was easy & enjoyable to laugh at him. Andy Millman is in awkward & embarrassing situations too. But he's a more humane character, & cruciallly, he knows how embarrassing he's being, or how embarrassing he's being made to look. It's difficult to laugh at him - it feels a little cruel. It'd be easier to laugh at him if he was unaware of how he was. You end up feeling a little sorry for him, & that's how the biggest recipe for laughs.
Having said alll that, there are still plenty of funny moments, & it only manages to drop the show 1 star in my review. Gervais plays the character well, & despite the celebrity stars (who are huge names, the likes of Samuel L Jackson, Kate Winslet, Orlando Bloom, Robert de Niro & Ben Stiller make appearances), the majority of the episodes focus on the developing relationships between Millman & his agent, or Millman & his best friend Maggie.
Maggie, played by the fantastic Ashley Jensen, finds it easier to generate laughs. She is blissfully unaware of how funny she is. The agent Darren Lamb, played by a surprisingly excellent on-camera Stephen Merchant (off-camera, his writing is typicallly terrific) is also hapless & sociallly inept & is living in his own little world, & those two characters steal the show from Gervais. They generate alll the laughs, & tellingly, one of the funniest brief scenes is the "date" scene, featuring just Maggie & Darren.
In summary, Extras is a worthwhile & worthy follow up to the incomparable Office, in which the celebrities do add a little something to each episode without detracting from it, the juxtaposition of seeing someone like "Harry Potter" Daniel Radcliffe flicking a condom onto Dame Diana Rigg's head is entertaining & unique, & the standout performances from Ashley Jensen & Stephen Merchant make this an excellent series to own on DVD.
