Comments on: Pathetic little fat man, noones bloody laughing

Pathetic little fat man, noones bloody laughing

headless — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 15:07:45 -0800

"See his pug-nose face." David Bowie, from Extras second season, which premieres tomorrow in USA. Stephen Merchant (from today's RADAR) and Ricky Gervais have been mentioned here before, but I think the David Bowie clip is worth it.

By: headless

headless — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 15:09:17 -0800

I know the David Bowie appearance was mentioned in the thread about the British premere of the second series, but there was no video, so I hope you don't see this as a double.

By: newfers

newfers — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 15:31:32 -0800

Bittorrent is your friend! Hint Hint!

By: drezdn

drezdn — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 15:46:48 -0800

I liked it.

By: mek

mek — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 15:49:24 -0800

I always loved that David Bowie clip, if two men could reproduce he'd have my man-babies. Patrick Stewart on Extras, another must-see.

By: Ian A.T.

Ian A.T. — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 15:53:21 -0800

Gervais talks about this scene in his recent AV Club interview: AVC: One of the funniest scenes in season two is when David Bowie writes a song about you in a bar. Did he write that himself? RG: He wrote the music, [but not] the lyrics. I sent him the script and I said, "We thought maybe it could be quite retro, something off Hunky Dory, with an anthemic chorus, like 'Life On Mars.'" He went, "Oh, sure, I'll just knock off a 'Life On Mars.'" And I laughed and went, "Oh, yeah, that did sound quite insulting, didn't it?" He knew what to give us. He gave us über-Bowie. [Sings.] "See his pug-nosed face..." The crew was singing it for about a week.

By: dhammond

dhammond — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 15:57:47 -0800

I finished watching the second series last week and it's truly phenomenal. The first season was quite good, but Gervais and Merchant have taken the "uncomfortable" factor up a notch, and it's pretty much in the same league as "Curb Your Enthusiasm" now.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 16:01:22 -0800

Casting Daniel Radcliffe as a smarmy little perv was pretty funny, too. Especially when he flips his condom into Dame Diana Rigg's face. Emma Peel SO rocks!

By: Senor Cardgage

Senor Cardgage — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 16:01:29 -0800

Are we havin' a laugh? (yuk yuk chortle guffaw)

By: hugsnkisses

hugsnkisses — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 16:21:17 -0800

Eh, I actually thought that scene was one of the worst from the entire season and represented everything that was so disappointing about this season. Whilst last year he managed to accurately strike the balance between a heartfelt drama and big name stars, this year it feels like Gervais overstretched himself, he tried to be too clever. The various celebrities were led into more and more unrealistic situations and the essential heart of the show - the friendly interaction between Andy and Maggie - was ignored. Maggie feels like a caricature in most of the episodes, she oversteps the line from "amusingly slow" to something you'd except from the Vicar of Dibley. Take the Bowie scene: the premise is that he's humiliating Andy by being unthinkingly, horrifically rude - a familiar theme. Last season it was done cringingly wonderfully by Maggie's unintentional racist remarks to Samuel L Jackson. It was a realistic situation born out of elements of the character and built up throughout the episode, it's something you could imagine doing yourself and the celebrity presence in the scene feels natural. But the Bowie scene takes a leap into the absurd and keeps on going. It feels awkward and scripted in the context of the show, they could have just as easily made the joke by having Bowie comment that he'd like to write a song called "Little fat man" or somesuch. The episodes that managed to remember to have three-dimensional characters and tighter scripts, however, were fantastic. "How do I act so well? What I do is I pretend to be the person I am portraying in the film or play."

By: A189Nut

A189Nut — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 16:26:30 -0800

Gervais seems to be a one-note act, not least from his recent chats with other comics.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 16:32:01 -0800

I am distracted by his teeth in the print ads in every magazine out this month. They're so... un-British. Very obviously, and poorly, Photoshopped.

By: squirrel

squirrel — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 16:39:05 -0800

Ben Stiller was great on the show's pilot, but the David Bowie bit was utterly fantastic. I was crying with laughter.

By: Ian A.T.

Ian A.T. — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 16:40:35 -0800

By the way, what does Linda suggest? I can't quite make it out.

By: Ian A.T.

Ian A.T. — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 16:47:42 -0800

Ah: "But the twat would probably miss." Never mind me.

By: flapjax at midnite

flapjax at midnite — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 16:48:42 -0800

I am distracted by his teeth in the print ads... Very obviously, and poorly, Photoshopped. Oh dear. They've shopped Bowie's teeth? That's terrible. They're gonna have to take his picture out of the Big Book of British Smiles.

By: squirrel

squirrel — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 16:51:24 -0800

hugsnkisses, I see where you're coming from, generally speaking. I partly agree. In this Bowie case, though, I think the out-of-the-park absurdity serves the comedy rather than drags it down. No accounting for taste, though.

By: lupus_yonderboy

lupus_yonderboy — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 17:01:51 -0800

I laughed uncontrollably.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 17:31:14 -0800

A189Nut: "Gervais seems to be a one-note act, not least from his recent chats with other comics." That interview with Gary Shandling was the most awkward piece of television that I've ever had the misfortune to watch. It would have been quite easy to take it as just another piece of Gervais schtick with Shandling playing along, but I was left with the definite impression that the real Shandling actually makes Larry Sanders seem well-balanced and almost normal by comparison. Gervais didn't come across well either -- but Shandling seemed like the archetypal LA megalomaniac who buys into his own self-authored mythology and thinks that the vacuous new-age crap he spouts actually has some value. Yet because the Larry Sanders show was so well observed, at the back of my mind, I still couldn't stop wondering, 'Is this all a put-on? Some sophisticated comedian's meta-joke gone wrong?'

By: Flashman

Flashman — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 18:17:47 -0800

For what it's worth, and in all fairness, this has been posted on Metafilter before. But it is definitely deserves its own FPP- it's probably one of the best scenes on British television of the last few years.

By: LoriFLA

LoriFLA — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 18:36:39 -0800

I have been anxiously waiting for the second season. I can't help to worry after reading incomple's comment on the other Extras post. Say it isn't so.

By: cillit bang

cillit bang — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 18:57:39 -0800

it's probably one of the best scenes on British television of the last few years. You obviously missed Big Brother tonight. There's a rather crappy compilation here.

By: headless

headless — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 20:07:21 -0800

Ahh, Flashman, I looked through that thread but I did not see it. The other meat link (as in meat and veg) -- the radar link, I thought was also good. I really liked stephen merchant as "oggy" and on the radio shows I've heard, it was nice to hear from him instead of gervais.

By: John Shaft

John Shaft — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 20:47:45 -0800

Didn't Bowie get his teeth "un-Britishified" just before "Black Tie White Noise"? The video for "Jump They Say" shows them off to great effect.

By: thanotopsis

thanotopsis — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 20:47:52 -0800

Gervais can touch me inappropriately any time he wants. He had me season 1, episode 1, when Kate Winslet is caught in a joke miming being on the phone saying naughty things...and she takes the time to hang up the imaginary phone. I don't think I've laughed that hard since the very first time I saw Airplane!

By: moonbird

moonbird — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 22:44:20 -0800

I've never seen this show before, and I think I really like it. Thanks!

By: three blind mice

three blind mice — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 22:56:52 -0800

What squirrel said about what hugsnkisses said. The Bowie sketch was good, but missed by a long shot being the brilliant shit you expect from Gervais with a guy like Bowie to feed lines to. "Extras" seems to me like a wider-audience effort on his part, but a good laugh none the less.

By: docgonzo

docgonzo — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 00:33:42 -0800

I hereby lodge a formal complaint against this scurrilous slur against the most noble and perfect of all dog breeds.

By: vbfg

vbfg — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 00:44:11 -0800

That interview with Gary Shandling was the most awkward piece of television that I've ever had the misfortune to watch. Maybe it was the fanboy in me but I laughed my arse off from beginning to end. I saw two guys who had a nervous first few minutes who, when relaxed, were playing on that nervousness.

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 02:13:22 -0800

Definitely beats crap like the chandelier scene in Only Fools and Horses when it comes to compiling the funniest moments in British comedy. I have never laughed so hard at a TV program than I did when I first saw this.

By: Jon Mitchell

Jon Mitchell — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 02:55:12 -0800

I wish you loud, brash, culturally ignorant twits would shut up about our teeth.

By: PeterMcDermott

PeterMcDermott — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 02:59:07 -0800

You obviously missed Big Brother tonight. There's a rather crappy compilation here. That wasn't as good as this bit though

By: Auz

Auz — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 03:01:17 -0800

hugsnkisses: "Whilst last year he managed to accurately strike the balance between a heartfelt drama and big name stars, this year it feels like Gervais overstretched himself, he tried to be too clever." Merchant (who would possibly be amused at someone ascribing all the work to Gervais) covers that in the Radar interview.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 03:38:37 -0800

They've shopped Bowie's teeth? Gervais's. English teeth! English teeth! Shining in the sun...

By: alicesshoe

alicesshoe — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 08:31:00 -0800

That Bowie song is very similar to Arctic Monkeys' "When The Sun Goes Down" Who's that girl there? I wonder what went wrong So that she had to roam the streets She dunt do major credit cards I doubt she does receipts It's all not quite legitimate And what a scummy man Just give him half a chance I bet he'll rob you if he can Can see it in his eyes, That he's got a driving ban Amongst some other offences And I've seen him with girls of the night And he told Roxanne to put on her red light It's all infected but he'll be alright Cause he's a scumbag, don't you know I said he's a scumbag, don't you know! Now I get their influence. Too bad there's no Bowie's "Little Bombardier" vid. "Let's go with fatso". "I like that". Wicked. The British sure have a way. Defendant's Lawyer—"Objection", "When did you ever send me flowers¿" "Let's stick to the facts, shall we¿" "Shove your facts and your flowers" BRILL./ "Are ya 'avin' a laff"¿ Bloody 'aye. "There is a lot to remember, it's called acting." Wooop. "Door's stuck" "K, that's lunch". No HBO for me in Canader. Dang./

By: lunalaguna

lunalaguna — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 18:33:03 -0800

I'd never seen any Extras eps until this thread. I don't think I'll be able to watch Harry Potter again without rolling up into a big ball of cringe. Yeeks.