Let's be realistic.

i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I want to start stating that I admire the Comedian Ricky Gervais and after watching "The Office" I was very keen on watching more of him. And Extras is with no doubt one of the most funniest series I have ever watched.Especially Steve Merchant surprised me as a so awkwardly funny character. Also I love Ashley Jensens cute Scottish accent. She also plays a very funny and awkward character. A very good extra (no pun intended) is that every episode has a guest actor like e.g. Ben Stiller, who by the way plays himself brilliantly. Those guest actors play themselves and Rickys Character is a extra at their film sets. The way he interacts with all those great actors is extremely impressing I can totally recommend this to everyone who loves dark British humour. Definitely a 10/10

Viewing this title 6 years on from its original transmission is a worthwhile experience. While bearing in mind Gervais' increasing ubiquity, both on the chat show circuit and in movies, it is interesting to realise that he has yet to surpass the toe curling accuracy of Extras.The basic premise is like the best sitcoms in that it is simple. Gervais plays Andy Millman, an unsuccessful wannabe actor eking out an unsatisfactory existence as a film extra. He has a co-conspirator, Maggie, played by the excellent Ashley Jensen and together their relationship is touching, believable and funny. Extras features cameos by luminaries such as Samuel L. Jackson, Ross Kemp, Ben Stiller and even Robert De Niro, playing twisted versions of themselves. Seeing Daniel Radcliffe playing a sex crazed mummy's boy is not easily forgotten, these appearances root the show into a believable context and are more than just a mere gimmick.As with The Office, Gervais and Stephen Merchant co-wrote and directed the programme, and Merchant also appears as Darren Lamb, Millman's hapless and hopeless agent. Their relationship forms some of the funniest moments of the entire series.Overall, Extras is a worthy addition to the pantheon of Great British sitcoms and David Bowie's song should be released as a single. 'The little fat man who sold his soul.'

Over the last few weeks I've been working my way through the two-box DVD set of Series 1 & 2 of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's much anticipated follow-up to "The Office", of which I was a big fan. This inside-exposure of a bit-actor's life in "luvvy-dom" is similar but different and requires a bigger leap of faith from its audience in expecting it to relate to this pretend-world of TV & cinema rather than the everyday familiarity of an office environment. The writing artfully weaves stories around drop-in cameo appearances of big-name UK & US stars, never mind pop-stars of the stature of Gervais' hero David Bowie and new-best-mate Chris Martin of Coldplay (I noticed Gervais in the crowd at Coldplay's free live preview of their new album outside BBC Broadcasting House in the summer) but principally focuses on Gervais' own Andy Millman character and his little band of fellow-nobodies, genuine find (although I'm always biased towards a good natural Scottish accent!) Ashley Jensen as man-mad, but dim "not my girlfriend" Maggie, Merchant himself as the completely inept agent and Shaun Williamson as Merchant's sidekick, down-on-his-luck "Barry from Eastenders". I'd go as far as rating Williamson's acting as "best-in-show", his role requires self-humiliation to the nth. degree and he carries it off with clear-eyed pathos as indeed do almost-has-been UK TV celebrities Les Dennis & Keith Chegwin in their guest spots. Williamson's "Barry" in fact is about the only cast member to elicit any real feelings of sympathy or empathy from the audience even if this veers often to downright pity for his pathetic "how the mighty have fallen" plight. But therein lies the problem for me, as the humour is occasionally spoiled by the sheer unlike-ability and unreality of Gervais and his gang of "house-characters". In addition, at least three episodes demonstrate a crassness towards the sick or the disabled, while another belittles a Polish war-refugee and yet another a slow-witted simpleton. Gays get bashed into stereotypical archetypes too, although I'm sure the writers would say I'm missing the irony somewhere. The star cameos do come off well however for the most part, Kate Winslet giving tips on phone-sex dressed in a nun's habit, Patrick Stewart as an old lech, Ben Stiller as a megalomaniac director and Robert De Niro as, well, Robert De Niro and there are numerous hilarious set-piece moments, including Andy's exposure as a non-Catholic dressed as John Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever", the "BAFTA Awards Night" fiasco, David Bowie's "spontaneous" song, while the send-up of old-school British comedy antiquities in "When the Whistle Blows", if a few rungs below Victoria Woods' spot-on "Acorn Antiques" still made me think ruefully of the hours I wasted growing up watching dated, stereotypical Brit-coms like "Love Thy Neighbour" or "Hi-De-Hi" topped with an "Only Fools and Horses" - type theme-tune. Like some of the best TV sitcoms, it plays effectively without a laugh-track (c.f. "M.A.S.H.", "Ripping Yarns", "Larry Sanders") but isn't quite in their class. For me then, a bit of a mixed bag if still streets ahead of most contemporary comedies, a less engaging, but if I was being truthful, scarcely less funny successor to its ground-breaking predecessor. And it got me re-acquainted with my moldering Cat Stevens collection too!

I've just watched pretty much all of the episodes on youtube, and I have to admit that this is probably one of the funniest and most sarcastic and at the same time wittiest TV shows I've seen in a long, long time. Ricky Gervais is a marvellous actor and just the last episode, the Christmas special, proved to me that he's not just a comedian but a really good actor, too. The scene in which he's on Big Brother for celebrities and just starts his short but astute speech against the contemporary media and their abuse of power just left me flabbergasted and gobsmacked. It felt as if he talked right from his heart and really meant everything he said. And I'd like to congratulate him on the risky decision to make the last episode not as funny as those before but instead giving it a less light-hearted touch. It moved me and I thought it was really deep.So, you British people out there, consider yourself lucky for having such great comedians and comedies. You have no idea what kind of stupid comedies we're forced to watch here in Germany. Most of it is just a cheap spin-off of what you do. For example, we have a German version of the Office, which isn't bad, but it's still nothing but a spin-off.Maybe the German language just wasn't meant to be funny.So, good bye, and if you ever meet one of us: Don't mention the war!