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Extras (TV series)

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Extras is a sitcom about extras working on movie sets and in theatre. It is written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. The series is filmed in a more traditional sitcom style than the mockumentary style used by Gervais and Merchant's previous award-winning series The Office. The series is a BBC/HBO co-production which first aired on July 21, 2005 on BBC Two in the UK and premiered on September 25, 2005 on HBO in the U.S.. The first series DVD was released in the UK on October 31, 2005.There were 6 episodes in the first series, all containing a different celebrity in each. The list in original broadcast order is as follows:
  1. Ben Stiller (This episode appears second on the DVD)
  2. Ross Kemp and Vinnie Jones
  3. Kate Winslet
  4. Les Dennis
  5. Samuel L. Jackson
  6. Patrick Stewart
The second series began filming 2nd week of June 2006; At present David Bowie, Chris Martin, Orlando Bloom, Daniel Radcliffe, Sir Ian McKellen, Germaine Greer, Diana Rigg, Moira Stewart, Richard Briers, Ronnie Corbett, Robert Lyndsay and Stephen Fry are confirmed for the second series. While Brad Pitt, Mariah Carey and Madonna were reported to be interested in guest starring at the Live 8 event in London, none of them have been confirmed by Gervais or the BBC. [link]

The first episode of the second series will premiere in the UK on BBC Two on September 14.

Each episode begins with a cold open and has no traditional opening credits theme tune. Episodes 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 begin with a short segment from the production on which Andy and Maggie are working, followed by a fade into the white Extras logo on a black background. Each episode does, however, end with the same music over the closing credits; an excerpt from the Cat Stevens song "Tea for the Tillerman", the title track from his 1970 album.

Contents

Synopsis

The show follows Andy Millman and his friend Maggie Jacobs as they work as movie extras. Each episode (except number 4) is based around a different film with Andy and Maggie playing extras. Andy tends to spend a lot of his time looking for ways to get a speaking role, while Maggie is more content with looking among the cast and crew for a boyfriend. Darren Lamb is Andy's agent, who fails to procure Andy substantial roles. Every episode has at least one guest star (a television/movie celebrity), and these guest stars play what Gervais and Merchant have referred to as "twisted" versions of themselves.

Cast / Characters

Main cast

Andy used to work in a bank, but quit to pursue his life-long dream of becoming an actor. Sadly, he hasn't made it yet, and he is forced to scrape a living as an extra on the sets of various movie and television productions. Being around far more successful performers has, not unnaturally, made him a bit cynical and bitter about the whole process. Still, he gives it his best shot, though he usually fails in his various attempts to improve his lot - partly due to his agent's utter incompetence, partly due to events and people beyond his control, but mostly due to his own ability to step right in it and then dig a hole for himself when trying to extricate himself.
In contrast to Gervais' other famous role as David Brent, who, through his desire to be liked by those around him comes off as pathetic, Millman makes no attempt to be liked - often behaving downright rudely.
Maggie is Andy's best friend and fellow extra. Maggie is a genuinely sweet, well-meaning soul who only wants to help. Unfortunately, her general social incompetence and complete lack of any sort of internal censor means that she's more likely to say precisely the wrong thing to the wrong person at exactly the wrong time, despite her lack of malicious intent - which usually means that she's just as likely to humilate Andy as help him. Maggie is constantly on the lookout for Mr. Right, but her frequent attempts are usually frustrated quite spectacularly.

Recurring cast

Darren Lamb is literally the worst agent in the history of acting. Incapable of breaking an act, his usual negotiating tactic is to agree with whatever anyone else says or, more likely, suggest someone other than his client for the part. He's very good at deducting his 12.5% pay deduction, however. His skill at his profession can be summed up by the fact that he once left his office phone unplugged for two days without noticing.
Shaun Williamson plays himself as one of Darren's clients. He used to play Barry Evans on the popular British soap opera EastEnders, but left to pursue a multi-million pound contract elsewhere. As Darren is his agent, this was a spectacular failure, and the most recent job his agent has managed to secure for him is changing a lightbulb. It says a lot about Shaun's career prospects that even his own agent doesn't know his real name, but instead calls him "Barry from EastEnders". He is, quite naturally, very depressed about his life.
Greg is a fellow extra. Unlike Andy, he has often secured a line in various productions; as a result, he possesses an extremely high opinion of himself, and is extremely belittling to Andy and his fellow extras. Underneath this, he's extremely petty, jealous and snide - probably because he wouldn't be doing so well if it weren't for the support given by his wealthy parents.

Guest stars

Each week saw one celebrity guest star (excluding the second episode, in which both Ross Kemp and Vinnie Jones appeared) who was usually the star of the production in which Andy and Maggie are working. These celebrities usually played an exaggerated or inverted parody of their famous public personas. The guest stars, in order of original broadcast, were:

Episode guide

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Episode 1

Guest star: Ben Stiller
First airing: July 21, 2005 (UK)

This episode is based around a film about the life of Goran, an Eastern European man whose wife died in the Balkans War. It is being directed by Ben Stiller, with Andy and Maggie playing extras in the film. Andy attempts to getting a speaking part by befriending Goran and, after giving him a £15 Topshop voucher, Goran gets him a line. However, Andy then gets in an argument with Ben and is kicked off the set. Maggie, meanwhile, takes an interest in one of the crew. Things appear to be going well later on at a party both of them attend, but it all falls apart when Maggie notices he has one leg longer than the other...

Trivia

Episode 2

Guest stars: Ross Kemp, Vinnie Jones
First airing: July 28, 2005 (UK)

Ross Kemp acts in epic period drama and befriends Andy (who is working as an extra). Kemp believes he has had SAS training and is as "hard" as the characters he plays on-screen. This episode introduces Andy's incompetent agent Darren (played by Merchant) who consistently fails to get him any work. Kemp's old EastEnders co-star Shaun Williamson (aka Barry Evans) shares the same agent but the last paid work Darren got for him was changing a lightbulb. Back on set there are rumours that Vinnie Jones is working nearby and looking for a fight with Kemp.

Trivia

Episode 3

Guest star: Kate Winslet
First airing: August 4, 2005 (UK), September 25, 2005 (USA)

Working as extras on the set of World War 2 Holocaust movie, Andy and Maggie meet the star Kate Winslet. Maggie is currently involved in a three-week relationship with a set assistant who wants her to talk dirty with him over the phone. Maggie has no idea what to say and asks Kate for advice. On his finding this out, Maggie gets dumped by her boyfriend.

Meanwhile, Andy is also romantically distracted and takes a liking to Catholic extra. He claims to be also Catholic in order to get closer to her; when invited to a prayer meeting "get-together," his transparent attempt to fit in is foiled.

Trivia

Episode 4

Guest star: Les Dennis
First airing: August 11, 2005 (UK)

This episode is set around the panto Aladdin in Guildford which stars Les Dennis. Andy manages to get a speaking part as the Genie (since John Thomson fluffed the audition and Christopher Biggins is busy). Les Dennis is currently engaged to a 26 year old called Simone. The local newspaper describes:

"Family Fortunes loser Les Dennis is on the comeback trail thanks to a starring role in Aladdin. Things are looking up for Les, 50, who recently announced his engagement to beautiful fiancée Simone Lewis, 26. With an age gap of a quarter of a century, Dennis is clearly punching above his weight again but insists they are very much in love."

Dennis is on the verge of a mental breakdown and, after discovering Simone cheating with a stagehand, stops in the middle of the first night of the panto.

When she comes to visit, Maggie bumps into an old friend whose father is directing the play. Maggie attends the girl's birthday party (the only other guests there are family) but is asked to leave after she suggests to her friend that she stops her father from running her life.

Episode 5

Guest star: Samuel L. Jackson
First airing: August 18, 2005 (UK)

On the set of a police thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson as a maverick American cop in the UK, Andy eventually gets a line with the star and gets to say "Ten to one he's going to pick Sgt. Harris again!". Andy uses lies and excuses to shake off a befriending dullard extra. The man's insistence causes Andy to cave in and have dinner with him. He finally snaps when the dullard presents him with two tickets for the Ben Elton musical We Will Rock You.

Maggie is attracted to the young black actor Danny. Despite some initial racial misunderstandings, she successfully asks him out on a date. All seems to be going well, until she goes too far in trying to smooth over racial differences by simulating sex with a gollywog doll and a Barbie. When she chats with Samuel L. Jackson on set the day after, she mistakes him for Laurence Fishburne. Andy tries to save the ailing conversation, and when this fails, Andy is asked to leave the set (forfeiting his line with Samuel L. Jackson).

Episode 6

Guest star: Patrick Stewart
First airing: August 25, 2005 (UK)

Both Andy and Maggie are working on a production of Shakespeare's The Tempest alongside Patrick Stewart. Eager to get his self-penned sitcom script noticed, he gives a copy to Patrick Stewart who tells him about his own self-penned film starring himself, which is basically just an hour and a half of women with their clothes falling off all the time. Patrick agrees to circulate the script, and BBC Comedy are interested and invite Andy for a meeting. During the meeting, Andy is asked to rewrite his script alongside an extremely camp man called Damon, with a view to a pilot episode being filmed.

While writing the script, Maggie pops in while Damon is leaving to get some coffee, and Andy talks about how Damon is basically a stereotypical gay and how it gets on his nerves a little. Maggie leaves and tells Damon that Andy is finding his campness annoying, which greatly insults Damon.

Andy is called into the BBC to talk about this, and finds out that Maggie told Damon his feelings about him and Damon is upset with him over his apparent homophobic attitude, and the producer (who reveals that he is also gay) warns Andy that there's a chance the plug could be pulled on the pilot.

Andy goes over to see Maggie and is furious with her for telling Damon that he didn't like him and that her attempts to help could demolish what might be his big break. He tells her that she needs to sort her own messed-up life out before interfering with his before storming away. Maggie is shaken, and this simply reinforces feelings she's already having about her grotty lifestyle. She cleans up her flat, removes her toys and posters, and straightens her hair.

At the BBC, Andy gives his sincerest apologies to Damon, and stresses he is not homophobic. Damon accepts his apology, and the pilot is back on.

Maggie leaves the set of yet another job, to find Andy with Patrick Stewart on his mobile phone, who tells Maggie that Andy is sorry and wants to be friends again. He starts to ask Maggie to star in his film when Andy quickly cuts him off. The two reconcile, and all is well again.

Trivia

Series Two

Series two is currently in production, the filming for the six episodes of series 2 has already begun at Pinewood studios and will continue into August. Ricky and Steve remain tight-lipped about what will happen, but some of the famous faces that will pop up in the new series are: 

  • Sir Ian McKellen
    • 



  • Dame Diana Rigg
    • 


... and more, it has also been confirmed by Ricky Gervais himself that star of My Family Robert Lindsay will  appear in the last episode. This was confirmed in Ricky Gervais’s eighth video podcast.


    Influences
    
The HBO series The Larry Sanders Show is a big influence; it also had celebrities guest star as exaggerated versions of themselves, mocking their public image. In addition, TLSS showed what happens behind-the-scenes of producing a talk show; Extras does the same for movies.
    

Another HBO series, Curb Your Enthusiasm, is another influence, and Gervais has said as much in interviews. The show follows the everyday life Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, with comedy often coming from friction that develops between David and others. These others often include celebrity guests like Ted Danson, David Schwimmer and Ben Stiller (who has appeared as himself in The Larry Sanders Show, Curb Your Enthusiasm and Extras).
    


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