Arnold
Tash Jayasinghe
CibbuanoExtras, Series 2, Episode 4
October 8th 2006 10:57
Extras, Series 2, Episode 4...
Watch it here - BBC website
I don't know what's going on with this show now. In this episode, Andy Millman starts out filming an insert for a starving-children charity ad where he meets Coldplay singer Chris Martin, who turns out to be a single-minded rockstar obsessed with promoting a Coldplay greatest hits album. Anyway, Martin asks to do a guest appearance on Millman's show, and the result is pretty bad... like one of those old sitcoms where a famous person comes on and they almost break the fourth wall in their attempts to promote whatever said famous person wants to promote. Millman's integrity is at an all-time low and then... he gets nominated for a BAFTA.
And they push and they push and they push... things just get worse and worse for Millman as he is humiliated again and again. His sitcom seems worse with every episode of Extras. Maggie seems only to exist as a kind of anti-deus ex machina - functioning as a plot device to bring about Millman's final moment of humiliation. The episode also features the cast of Holby City, Ronnie Corbert, Stephen Fry and a couple of other people. It seems they're cramming in more famous faces with each episode.
What are they doing? I don't understand anymore! This show started out as an outside-of-the-box sitcom... making you cringe, but making you laugh too. But this second series has pushed it's boundaries so far that I don't really find myself laughing so much as just wincing as they do their thing in more and more exagerrated strokes. They're pushing it all so far that it's starting to blur the lines between good and bad... I really, really hope that Gervais and Merchant have an idea of where they're heading and that it pays off big time cause at the moment it's starting to look like one great big Andy Kaufman joke - is Gervais laughing at us by feeding us exceedingly torturous television? It's commendable, but it could also be the quickest route to shooting oneself in the proverbial foot, career-wise.
Watch it here - BBC website
I don't know what's going on with this show now. In this episode, Andy Millman starts out filming an insert for a starving-children charity ad where he meets Coldplay singer Chris Martin, who turns out to be a single-minded rockstar obsessed with promoting a Coldplay greatest hits album. Anyway, Martin asks to do a guest appearance on Millman's show, and the result is pretty bad... like one of those old sitcoms where a famous person comes on and they almost break the fourth wall in their attempts to promote whatever said famous person wants to promote. Millman's integrity is at an all-time low and then... he gets nominated for a BAFTA.
And they push and they push and they push... things just get worse and worse for Millman as he is humiliated again and again. His sitcom seems worse with every episode of Extras. Maggie seems only to exist as a kind of anti-deus ex machina - functioning as a plot device to bring about Millman's final moment of humiliation. The episode also features the cast of Holby City, Ronnie Corbert, Stephen Fry and a couple of other people. It seems they're cramming in more famous faces with each episode.
What are they doing? I don't understand anymore! This show started out as an outside-of-the-box sitcom... making you cringe, but making you laugh too. But this second series has pushed it's boundaries so far that I don't really find myself laughing so much as just wincing as they do their thing in more and more exagerrated strokes. They're pushing it all so far that it's starting to blur the lines between good and bad... I really, really hope that Gervais and Merchant have an idea of where they're heading and that it pays off big time cause at the moment it's starting to look like one great big Andy Kaufman joke - is Gervais laughing at us by feeding us exceedingly torturous television? It's commendable, but it could also be the quickest route to shooting oneself in the proverbial foot, career-wise.
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Comment by Chantal
I wondered whether Chris Martin actually ask to be on the show, in which case, it's even funnier!
I love Maggie, she's so cute in all her stupidity!
Comment by Luke
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