Irrelevant mention in Gervais’ blog

[Joey TORDFC]

It’s honestly not even worth clicking on this, I wonder why you do?

Anyway…

“The Guide to The English was the biggest selling yet, by the way. So thank you to all those who bought it. To those of you who illegally downloaded it, a curse on your Red Dwarf videos and may your nan kick you out.”

Topic

[Phil]

I read about the upcoming Flanimals movie today.

If I say any more, I’ll start crying.

[Jonathan Capps]

Fuck Ricky Gervais and his stupid fucking idiot face.

[hummingbird]

Ricky who?

[Jonathan Capps]

RICKY FUCKING IDIOT.

[Wilbur]

Cappsy, are you admitting you illegally downloaded it, or do you just have a complex about living with your gran?

[si]

>RICKY FUCKING IDIOT.

^This.

[Jonathan Capps]

> Cappsy, are you admitting you illegally downloaded it, or do you just have a complex about living with your gran

Neither. I just really dislike Ricky Gervais.

[James]

Gervais, it burns my fingers to type his twatting name! I’m sorry but i hate the fat balding git. Night at the museum. Fuck off!

[si]

I usually type it as R***y G*****s. Yes, it’s childish, but I just can’t stand the twat.

[Dave]

>R***y G*****s

Rusty Grahams?
Rapey Gutters?

[Danny Stephenson]

Rusty Gaaates.

[pfm]

Red Dwarf videos? Chuck ’em right in the fucking bin, piece of plastic bollocks.

Even though he says things jokingly you just KNOW that he has a certain hatred for, well, people in general, especially people who don’t pay him money! He acts like the British public owes him something because he’s such a big ‘star’ and has had ‘success in America’ (no way is this all just tongue-in-cheek when he says it). Well the Americans will soon forget who he is and, no matter what, he will only ever be remembered for a) The Office (which I do love) and b) being fat, and this fact eats him up inside!

I say he’ll be remembered for The Office but that’s not specific enough. I’m guessing more people have watched interviews with him, more people think of Jonathan Ross interviewing him, and have listened to the podcasts than have ever watched The Office. People will think of the dancing scene and of people doing pisstakes of the dancing scene. Nothing more.

[Turk Thrust]

> I say he?ll be remembered for The Office but that?s not specific enough. I?m ?>guessing more people have watched interviews with him, more people think of >Jonathan Ross interviewing him, and have listened to the podcasts than have ever >watched The Office. People will think of the dancing scene and of people doing >pisstakes of the dancing scene. Nothing more.

You are a fool.

[Carlito]

Give Gervais his due, he’s a funny guy, The Office is superb, Extras was well above average (and at it’s best, also superb) and his stand up is mostly very good too… if you view his body of work, rather than his personality, then he’s made a worthwhile contribution to comedy culture. He’s just in danger of disappearing up his own arse, and I think it’s more likely that he’s just going too far in trying to portray some ‘deluded mega-star’ persona for laughs and becoming unbearable in the process.

He’s definitely trying to be tongue-in-cheek whenever I see him ranting about many of the issues he gets pulled up on (especially the whole Britain vs America debate). It’s just that the difference is, when you see him talk about it with your own eyes, it’s tongue-in-cheek… when you read about, he seems like an arrogant arsehole.

Knowing the manipulative ways of the media, there is no doubt that liberties are being taken, and quotes are being used out of context/the spirit in which they were said. I won’t jump on the Gervais backlash bandwagon just because the media would like me too. When he produces a piece of work that is utterly utterly shite, yet still maintains his “comedy god” routine… THEN I’ll be happy to.

(I’m not counting any of his movie/TV roles which were simply acting jobs… I’m talking about his own output. Ghost Town was fairly weak but then he was just an actor appearing in it, can’t really hold him responsible for it.)

[Carlito]

For example, one piece I saw carried the headline “Gervais calls Britain a country full of losers” when in actuality it referred to Gervais referring to how Britain has more empathy and affinity for the underdog role (as the focal point of a movie/TV show, or just a celebrity) whereas constrastingly America likes to celebrate the more successful, happy type of character. You can see what he’s trying to say, and also how it has been simply taken out of context and twisted so that most people who saw the headline or scanned the article simply believes that Gervais has branded Britain a bunch of losers. It’s pathetic journalism.

[hummingbird]

> He?s definitely trying to be tongue-in-cheek whenever I see him ranting about many of the issues he gets pulled up on (especially the whole Britain vs America debate). It?s just that the difference is, when you see him talk about it with your own eyes, it?s tongue-in-cheek? when you read about, he seems like an arrogant arsehole.

Yes, this. But the tongue-in-cheek act can get old. He seems to hide behind it.

Not that I’m criticising that per se – a lot of performers hide behind a stage persona – but it would be refreshing to see an interview with the man rather than the the performer.

[pfm]

> Yes, this. But the tongue-in-cheek act can get old. He seems to hide behind it.

That’s it. He’s said it so many times there’s got to be genuine feeling behind it.

[Carlito]

That’s akin to saying that Timothy Spall has performed with a Brummie accent so many times, he must be genuinely from Birmingham.

Maybe he’s not very comfortable just being himself?

[PhilPagett]

It is just a persona. In real life he loves Red Dwarf. He will be at Dimension Jump, only you won’t recognise him because he’ll be dressed as a Pleasure GELF. Fact.

[Pete Part Three]

The Office shits all over Back to Earth. Fact.

[JamesTC]

Opinion.

[Jonathan Capps]

> The Office shits all over Back to Earth. Fact.

Fucking, fucking, fucking bollocks you utter CUNT.

[Carlito]

The Office, as a collective body of work (series 1 and 2 and the specials), probably is superior to Back To Earth (as much as I loved BtE).

The Office, as a collective body of work, doesn’t come anywhere near Red Dwarf, as a collective body of work. In my opinion, of course.

[ChrisM]

They’re such different comedy styles I find them difficult to compare. If you prefer the documentary style you’re likely to go with The Office, etc, etc.

I like both styles but prefer Red Dwarf. Then again there are other things about Red Dwarf that I like along with the comedy. The sci-fi for example.

[Pete Part Three]

I like The Office because it’s funny and original. I don’t like BTE because it’s not funny and it’s not original.

[hummingbird]

Bloody hell, things are aggressive round G&T way these days.

I think some of you need to cut back on the coffee and get laid … or something.

[Ian Symes]

That?s akin to saying that Timothy Spall has performed with a Brummie accent so many times, he must be genuinely from Birmingham.

That analogy would only work if Timothy Spall played a Brummie in absolutely everything he’s ever done, including putting on the accent every time he’s interviewed or appears in public.

(Apart from anything else, Barry in Auf Wiedersehen Pet isn’t a Brummie, he’s a Yam-Yam.)

[Carlito]

Never said he was.

:P

[pfm]

> The Office, as a collective body of work (series 1 and 2 and the specials), probably is superior to Back To Earth

There’s no ‘probably’ about it. The Office is one of the greatest pieces of television ever made. But FFS it’s not as though you can compare it with BtE. Imagine if they went back and did another Office special in a few years’ time, but it was in a completely different style to what had come before it (done as a straight drama instead of ‘mockumentary’?). Then you could maybe compare that to BtE.

Incidentally, it would be shit if they did that. Seldom has there been a series as totally complete and final as The Office. I would be dead against any form of reunion/special as there’s just no way it wouldn’t spoil it. They simply couldn’t beat how they finished it in the Christmas special.

[Carlito]

But then a lot of people consider the Christmas specials to be far inferior to the two seasons. And a lot of people consider season 2 far inferior to season 1.

It’s ALL subjective.

It’s easy for me to say The Office as a whole was better than Back To Earth, but if I was given the choice of a future scenario of either new Red Dwarf or new Office, I’d pick Red Dwarf.

I loved Back To Earth, yet the collective back catalogue of The Office is better than BtE, but the back catalogue of Red Dwarf, to me, is better than The Office. The Office did something new, ALMOST broke new ground (had People Like Us not preceded it… had various Lee and Herring sketches not preceded it… had some of the Chris Morris/Armando Iannucci material not preceded it…) and was very, very good. But it was of its time and is a victim of a very difficult-to-update premise. Red Dwarf continues to evolve in a way it is challenging for most other shows to.

Ricky Gervais as a performer has barely evolved in any discernible way since his debut. What he does is very amusing. Yet he is danger of becoming a one trick pony. The fact that a lot of impressionists and comedians are cottoning on to his only style of performance and ridiculing it, yet he does nothing new, is indicative of a narrow style which will wear out very quickly. The Office will become less amusing as time goes by. It will show its age, as a creature of its time. People in 20 years will be less likely to relate to it. People in 20 years will still be able to laugh at Red Dwarf, and many other classic sitcoms with timeless premises and ideas. Until Gervais is able to create something genuinely timeless, he should shut up and be humble.

[Turk Thrust]

Of course it`s true that it is all subjective. I think it`s fair to say though that the general opinion is that both Dwarf and The Office have been excellent shows on the whole. People on this board are obviously more likely to rate Dwarf higher but that`s down to preference rather than quality.

The general opinion of BTE however, is that it isn`t in the same league as any of The Office or the first 6 series of Dwarf though. I don`t think that`s unfair.

I`m not sure how anybody can guess as to whether The Office will stand the test of time. How can anybody decide now on what will be timeless?

The script for The Invention of Lying was very warmly received so hopefully the film will live up to it.

[NitroChrisUK]

> The Office shits all over Back to Earth. Fact.
not this

>Fucking, fucking, fucking bollocks you utter CUNT.
this

[Seb Patrick]

>I like The Office because it?s… original.

Operation Good Guys, The Day Today, People Like Us and Christopher Guest disagree with you.

I like The Office because it’s funny and I got genuinely interested in the character arcs. The same reasons I like the US version, in fact, a show I think has long since transcended its roots and become a far greater and more satisfying piece of TV work than the original.

Hence, although I don’t much like Gervais as a person, he’s nevertheless responsible (indirectly or otherwise) for the existence of one of my favourite shows…

[Pete Part Three]

By “original”, I actually meant that the show constantly found new storylines. Rather than, you know, recycling its own stuff. This is why Gervais and Merchant called it a day; much like Cleese and Booth before them.

Now you could argue that The Office (UK) lasted for just 14 episodes, while Red Dwarf is up to 55 episodes, but that may just add prove that it’s time to, um, stop.

And I love The Office US, but I find the original version has far more rewatch value. And the Tim and Dawn romance is far more satisfying than the Jim and Pam stuff.

[Seb Patrick]

>And the Tim and Dawn romance is far more satisfying than the Jim and Pam stuff.

I disagree. With Tim and Dawn, you never really got a sense of just why they were supposedly perfect for one-another. They were sweet, and they clearly had a connection based around a shared sense of humour and whatnot, but we didn’t really find out a huge amount about their characters – particularly Dawn’s. In Tim’s case, you half-suspect he was pining after the one person in his workplace who was nice to him (and, you know… attractive), and Dawn sought solace in someone who actually appreciated her in the way her fiance didn’t.

With the US version, partially because it’s run for so much longer, they’ve been able to build up this unerring sense of just why Pam and Jim are so great together. Pam’s got far more of a personality than Dawn did, and it’s one that clicks with the way Jim is. I care about them as a couple far more than I did in the UK version, although naturally I was a little “Awwwww” at the ending.

[pfm]

Gervais would be the first to admit who he and Merchant ripped off when doing both The Office and Extras. Though I do think they did a brilliant job of taking the influences and adapting them. The genius of The Office isn’t in the idea itself, it’s how far it was taken, and the class of the dialogue and performances.

I know most people just think of the parodies and pisstakes of Gervais and David Brent now but it’ll never escape my mind how fantastic he was as that character in that series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrPD5dDkvD8 – this is the kind of scene that I like because it reminds me so much of where I used to work. My theory is that if you have been Tim in this situation then you definitely will get and enjoy The Office. If you’re actually a twat like Brent then you’ll hate it. I know someone who hates Gervais but he literally IS a northern version of him.

> Pam?s got far more of a personality than Dawn did

Not only that, she’s a damn sight more gorgeous! Obviously they couldn’t help but develop their characters more due to how many episodes they knew they had to make.

[Pete Part Three]

The Jim and Pam stuff is like Ross and Rachel all over again, while the Tim and Dawn thing ran its course during the 14 episodes of the UK version. It’s just indicative of how much more “sitcommy”the US version is. This is, in no way a criticism, but it just means it’s not as unique as the UK version.

In the documentary on the DVD of The Office Series 1 (UK), Gervais and Merchant discuss scenes that they exercised because they felt too much sitcom and not “real” enough. These scenes are ridiculously “normal” compared to the wacky goings-on at Dunder Miffin (including Michael going into the woods to find himself, or him and Dwight ending up in a lake due to their dependency on a satnav).

The US version makes me laugh like a drain, but I don’t think it’s nearly as clever and endearing as the UK version. The laughs feel cheaper and it’s long since betrayed the trappings of a “documentary”.

> Pam?s got far more of a personality than Dawn did

That’s part of it. She’s just more of a sitcom character. Just like Dwight is pure pantomime when compared to Gareth.

[Andrew]

> it just means it?s not as unique as the UK version.

“Not as unique”, there.

[Turk Thrust]

It`s like I always say, if you don`t like what somebody else is saying then start pedantically picking on their use of the English language.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

Gervais took the piss out of Dwarf fans. This makes him worse than Stalin. He’s a dirty fucking cunt who has never done anything worthwhile.

WAAAAAAH …. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

Also

> It`s like I always say, if you don`t like what somebody else is saying then start pedantically picking on their use of the English language.

This.

[Dave]

Joey, Joey, Joey, what hast thou dunst?

[JamesTC]

I ried to watch the Office but it didn’t grip me, I was completely un-smegging gip-ped. I laughed at the stapler in the jelly but outside that I didn’t find much to laugh at, the American Office is a funny show but I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it, the “Ryan started the fire” song was very funny though.

[pfm]

> the ?Ryan started the fire? song was very funny though.

Oh god yeah it definitely was! I now love the US Office. At first I had the natural view of ‘wtf is this, how can they copy the original, Dwight is such a shit character compared with Gareth’ etc. but, of course, you’ve got to give things a chance then you get into them (much like anal sex).

The US series is, in many ways, a lot funnier. It’s certainly broader and more ‘fun’, but we British always seem to be more naturally inclined to making shows about misery and then finding the humour within. Michael Scott is a great character perfectly played by Carrell. Dwight got a lot better as the show went on IMO. The original 6 episodes were actually pretty lame, and for ages that’s all I was basing my opinion of the show on. Silly me. Silly silly me…

[Joey TORDFC]

Oh god I take it back.

– I like Ricky Gervais
– I like The Office, but prefer The Office US
– Seb – First time I saw The Office I thought it was a clear Operation Good Guys rip.
– When do I ever post anything worthwhile here?!

[Joey TORDFC]

I gave birth to it and then I killed it.

[Ian Symes]

You’re like Aggie from Kim and Aggie in that respect.

[pfm]

> You?re like Aggie from Kim and Aggie in that respect

I’m laughing but god I shouldn’t be.

[Author]

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