Extras - DVD

Extras - The Complete Series (Includes Series Finale)

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 50 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Best British Comedy since Monty Python 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This series tracks the life of Allen Millman (Ricky Gervais) and his friend Maggie through their days as film extras and Allen's subsequent rise to blue-collar sitcom fame. Each character in the series has such depth and unique comic appeal. The series is also peppered with guest stars including Kate Winslet, David Bowie, Orlando Bloom, and Robert De Niro. I thought the BBC Office was top notch, and did not expect the "extras" series to top it, but it surely did... Ricky Gervais' best work to date.

Awesomely Hilarious. 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This show is so funny! Ricky Gervais's wry humor and wit is sure to knock you off your feet. he is hilarious and the show rocks.

Just not that funny! 2 out of 5 stars.
0 of 4 people found this review helpful.

I am a huge fan of the office, so I looked up who wrote the scripts and bought this season to see if it was just as good (it worked when I grabbed the other Aaron Sorkin shows). This was pretty awful. It was not advertised on Amazon as a British television show, and the humor there must be completely different than it is in the United States.

There were about two hilarious minutes in each episode, but the rest of each episode was filled with jokes that just missed the mark. The only reason that this show gets 2 stars instead of 1 is because the guest stars that they managed to get to come onto the show are hilarious. Samuel Jackson and Ben Stiller are great. The actual characters on the show, however, leave a lot to be desired.

If you like British comedies, you will probably like this. If you are looking for a new "The Office" style comedy, this is not the one to buy.

Editorial Review:

Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 01/06/2009

Extras - The Extra Special Series Finale

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

The Extras special is extra special 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

The modern obsession with fame was explored by writers Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant in The Office in the form of David Brent, a middle manager who made an idiot of himself on a BBC documentary series and then paid for it by losing his job and spending nights making appearances at nightclubs in front of people who couldn't care less about him.

In Extras, Gervais and Merchant returned to the celebrity theme as Andy Millman, the character played by Gervais, discovered that the perks attached to starring in the very popular, albeit extremely lowbrow, comedy, When the Whistle Blows, made it difficult for him to commit to his oft-expressed desire for artistic integrity.

Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale starts with Andy sitting alone on a couch in the Celebrity Big Brother house as the other housemates bicker like emotionally illiterate cretins behind him. This brief scene reveals that when it comes to the conflict between fame and integrity the former is going to win out for Andy at some point during this chapter of Extras.

Gervais convincingly portrays Andy's frustration at his comedic lot and also his desperation when his star fades after he pulls the plug on When the Whistle Blows. "No, I told you a thousand times, I'm not going to play an alien in Dr Who", he asserts to his agent post-Whistle, but in the next scene he's playing an alien in Dr Who.

Andy's progressively more abrasive personality most movingly affects his relationship with his only friend, Maggie (a superb Ashley Jensen).

Maggie's life goes into freefall after she gives up supporting artist work after being degraded by one of her favourite actors on the set of a film about Lord Byron. Clive Owen does an uncomfortably amusing turn as the sexy bastard who insults Maggie.

Andy complains a lot about having to do awful television programs such as Hotel Babylon, but his financially comfortable situation is contrasted with Maggie's dire plight.

Maggie ends up residing in a shabby little flat and vacuuming floors, cleaning toilets and washing dishes for a living. There are some beautifully humorous scenes between Andy and Maggie, including one involving a mud pack and a girdle, that serve to let the viewer know their friendship can be solid, even though it's had its ups and downs, as all meaningful relationships do.

Merchant and Shaun Williamson (aka Barry from EastEnders) are again a terrific double act as the useless agent and his unemployable client, while Shaun Lye, Andy's rival and the man whose parents bought him a house when he was a struggling actor, is deliciously smug as the now successful Greg Lindley Jones.

Gervais and Merchant allow their protagonists to have many and diverse flaws, including jealousy, pettiness, incompetence, stubbornness, stupidity, and arrogance, however, central characters like Andy and Merchant's Darren Lamb are redeemed by traits like vulnerability, loyalty, and sensitivity.

In other words, Gervais and Merchant allow their characters to be human.

It could be argued that Andy's antagonism towards Big Brother and its gathering of "desperate people" (the housemates are, among others, a former contestant on The X Factor and a mother who's well-known because her son was murdered) is undermined by the fact that Gervais watches the show and has discussed episodes of it on his blog.

Although some viewers might think Gervais and Merchant aren't playing it enough for big laughs in Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale, the well-balanced mix of pathos, drama and comedy makes the program brilliant indeed.

Note - Fans of Karl Pilkington should look out for the bald one playing a fickle fan.

Editorial Review:

Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 02/26/2008 Run time: 84 minutes

Extras - The Complete First Season

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 47 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Extras - grows on you if you liked The Office 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I stumbled across Extras while browsing Amazon to see if Ricky Gervais had done anything recently. (My The Office DVDs are badly scratched, as I watched them over, and over, and over again wishing there would be more!) WELL - I ordered Extras. I did have some chuckles, and the more I watched, the more the series grew on me. Something new from Ricky Gervais. Yippee!!!

If you miss The Office and you're a fan of Ricky Gervais' & Stephen Merchant's humor, then Extras is a must-buy. Give it time... I now prefer it to The Office! It's nice to see something new from them... (Well, new to me...)

Pardon? 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Ricky Gervais is Mr. Unfunny in my opinion. If there was an option to choose zero stars I think that would be more apropriate.

A Must Own 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

This show offers not only the hilarity of comedy geniuses like Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, but also amazing cameos by some of Hollywood's biggest stars. Brilliant.

Some great bits but overall just pretty good 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I'm a big UK Office fan, so I was curious how Gervais would follow that up. I thought this first season was funny overall, but not quite up to the standard of the Office. The humor is the same: watching defective characters in awkwardly uncomfortable situations. I found it funny, but after David Brent, Gervais' Andy Millman character seemed a bit too mundane for me, and his annoying female sidekick's silliness sometimes seemed forced and unrealistic. This series does have some genuinely classic moments though. The funniest aspect is the celebrity cameos, in which big time entertainers play warped versions of themselves. I was laughing out loud at the crass and cynical Kate Winslet, the megalomaniacal Ben Stiller and the girl-crazy, juvenile Patrick Stewart. I had never heard of the two British celebrities- Ross Kemp and Les Dennis- but their faux personalities were great too. So, I think this is a very good series- perhaps even deserving of all its awards- but a definite second-best in the Office-style genre of comedy.

Editorial Review:

Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 01/06/2009

Extras - The Complete Second Season

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 33 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Oh How The Mighty Have Fallen 2 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

I should first say that I am a huge fan of "The Office" and Season 1 of Extras. Season 2 however shows the creators as having nothing much more to say. Their mean spirited nothingness is eerily reminiscent of the demise of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" where the goal seemed more to push the ugliness envelope than to actually provide laughs. If a joke is funny, there is no topic out of bounds. Here the comedy is missing so all that remains are the same tired parlor games of season 1. Celebrities are jerks / fame is difficult, and the disabled or freaks are fodder for amusement. They spin this within the commentary but it remains a glaring deficit upon their work.
In this world of diminished quality it is heartbreaking when great workers fail and this DVD is testament to the limits of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Season 1 and the Movie (Part 3) would have left a mystery as to their abilities, but "Extras" Part 2 seems an inside joke which speaks volumes about how success kills comedy. Like "Curb", misanthropy misapplied is nothing to laugh at.

Editorial Review:

Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 01/06/2009 Run time: 300 minutes

Desperate Housewives: Second Season the Extra Juicy Edition

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WINDY ACRES / FARM FRESH COMEDY / 2 DISC SET / COMPLETE FIRST SEASON Plus Extras!

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Farm fresh comedy. 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is the first season (and only I think) of the dramedy Windy Acres. Seven episodes in all. Shot in Vermont it's the story of an urban woman who needs a break from the city, who takes her two daughters into the hills for a needed getaway. The girls initially don't want to be there, and neither does the mother, but of course soon they start to like it and sparks fly between mom and the main hillbilly on the farm they visit. He is played by Vermont actor Rusty Dewees, also known locally as The Logger. The easiest way I can describe Windy Acres is to say it's similar in many ways to Northern Exposure. A fish-out-of-water story that is roughly a romantic/comedy/drama. It has a few slow moments, but overall done very well. Rusty and Seana really make it.

Editorial Review:

WINDY ACRES / FARM FRESH COMEDY / 2 DISC SET / COMPLETE FIRST SEASON PLUS EXTRAS!

Extras: Complete Series One and Two [Region 2]

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Features:

• Behind the scenes extras
• Finding Leo- featurette
• Taping Nigel- documentary
• Outtakes
• Deletes Scenes and much more!!

Editorial Review:

Andy Millman (Ricky Gervais) is a desperate man. He's been an actor for five years but thanks to his useless agent (Stephen Merchant), he's never done any acting. Instead he's just a lowly extra, walking around in the background while the stars do their lines. Andy's only friend in the world is Maggie (Ashley Jenson), a fellow extra and a hopeless romantic. While Maggie pursues the man of her dreams, Andy decides he'll do whatever it takes to get himself noticed. Series Two: After getting his comedy script accepted by the BBC, things are looking up for Andy. However, Andy's dreams of becoming a respected auteur are roundly demolished and he must claw back what little self respect he can. The second series of the award winning Extras is as edgy, uncomfortable, daring and funny as no other comedy.

Crank Yankers Uncensored (Season One) [DOUBLE DISC BOX SET] {EXTRA BONUS MATERIAL}

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Crank Yankers Uncensored (Season One) [DOUBLE DISC BOX SET] {EXTRA BONUS MATERIAL}

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