Extras - The Complete First Season
After the British series ofThe Officecame to an end, co-creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant were faced with an enviable problem:  After making the most influential and acclaimed sitcom of the past decade, what do you do next? Amazingly, they've actually created an equally brilliant show:Extras, in which Gervais plays Andy Millman, an frustrated actor who can only get work as a "background artist"--i.e., an extra. Not only does the role continue to mine Gervais' gift for self-humiliation (which, staggeringly enough, may be even more excruciating than his David Brent's behavior inThe Office, because Andy is more socially capable yet still can't avoid moments of jaw-dropping embarrassment), but Gervais has also persuaded a glorious variety of stars to tweak their own images. High points include Kate Winslet (Sense & Sensibility) teaching Andy's best friend Maggie (Ashley Jensen,Ugly Betty) how to talk dirty and Patrick Stewart (X-Men) describing his new screenplay about a man who uses psychic powers to remove women's clothing. But Ben Stiller, Samuel L. Jackson, Ross Kemp (sort of the British version of Michael Chiklis), and Les Dennis (sort of the British version of...well, there may not be an American version of Les Dennis) all also turn in deliciously ego-bursting turns.  Merchant plays Andy's deliriously dense agent, but the core of the show is the relationship between Andy and Maggie. Over the course of six episodes, the interplay between this hapless, starry-eyed pair grows into a wonderfully tender portrait of friendship that perfectly balances the show's so-funny-it-hurts humor. The extras are few but worth watching:  Along with a behind-the-scenes featurette, genuinely funny deleted scenes, and the usual clips of everyone forgetting their lines and swearing, there's a very funny sequence of Gervais and Merchant desperately trying to replace Jude Law (who had to drop out of an episode) with Leonardo DiCaprio. All in all,Extras: The Complete First Seasonis essential viewing.--Bret Fetzer