Ricky Gervais, the unsung, but yes he’s in the credits, hero of The Office, the American version, has another hilarious comedy where he plays a similar character to his Office (British version) character called Extras on HBO right now.  It’s about movie extras who are trying to make their way to the top in the tough world of Hollywood while working humiliating lower level jobs as tiny bit parts in movies.  Ricky Gervais plays one of the extras.  He has a lousy agent who doens’t do anything for him, and from the first episode, he seems to have terrible luck with women, just like his Office character.

Unlike the Office though, he is not as much of an idiot, intellectually in this show, and he actually understands complex words and how to use them in sentences.  He also apparently knows how to talk to people, but has a bumbling room mate (a woman) who doesn’t seem to know how to keep her foot out of her mouth.  Gervais however, is almost a Larry David like character in that he gets stuck in situations that are impossible and ends up digging himself in to a deeper hole, even if he has the best intentions.

Nonetheless, Extras is fun to watch, and Gervais is still the master of the uncomfortable moment, the expression, and acting like a guy who really means well but ends up looking like the a$%hole in the end almost every time.  You can’t help but root for the poor fool, and yet you love watching as he gets himself into embarrassing situations time and time again.  Bottom line is if you like Curb Your Enthusiasm and the British versioni of The Office, you’ll really like Extras.  Oh, you may want to have subtitles on, since the accents are pretty heavy at times.