Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 02:04:39 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Ricky Gervais [split topic]

Started by Sebastian Cobb, January 30, 2019, 05:25:04 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

bgmnts

I want there to be scene where a Derek makes a cameo, watching a clip of The Office on Youtube shouting "mong! mong! mong!" over it.

I have a friend in Ricky's professional orbit who complains that he's simultaneously obsessed with his credibility as well as - and seemingly at odds with - his notoriety. His mantra is "would Woody Allen do it?" which just seems arcane in 2019. He truly has become everything he pretended to despise throughout his ascent.

Cuellar

If that really is his mantra he should be on some sort of watch list

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: LynnBenfield69 on February 02, 2019, 01:23:18 AM
I have a friend in Ricky's professional orbit who complains that he's simultaneously obsessed with his credibility as well as - and seemingly at odds with - his notoriety. His mantra is "would Woody Allen do it?" which just seems arcane in 2019. He truly has become everything he pretended to despise throughout his ascent.

It's funny as he used to bang on about how he didn't do voiceovers as it was beneath him (which may have been a passive-aggressive swipe at merchant, who definitely did).

Merchant is obviously still 'in' showbiz but clearly out of the limelight and not begging for attention. Gervais' latter work mates you wonder how much of it was Merchant keeping things grounded/telling him no.

St_Eddie

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on February 02, 2019, 05:04:04 PM
Merchant is obviously still 'in' showbiz but clearly out of the limelight and not begging for attention. Gervais' latter work mates you wonder how much of it was Merchant keeping things grounded/telling him no.

I'm mostly convinced that Life's Too Short was, at its base, a Gervais solo project.  I have no real proof to back that up but I just get the feeling that Merchant took a back seat (possibly due to a falling out with Gervais during filming; it's worth noting that they never collaborated again after that project and I remember plenty of pre-release PR material with Gervais but virtually none with Merchant).

It wasn't just Life's Too Short's lower standard of quality, in comparison to The Office and Extras, which led me to this suspicion but also the fact that during all of Gervais and Merchant's office scenes, spread across the series, I think that Merchant had only one, or maybe two, very brief lines of dialogue (the only one which I can recall, off the top of my head, is Merchant's line in regards to Sting; "never without his lute"), whilst Gervais had a shit ton of lines.  Odd.

It was clear to me where the majority of the heart and soul of The Office and Extras lay, upon comparing Merchant's solo project, Hello, Ladies (a low key but rather charming and amusing series with a lot of genuine heart), with Gervais' Derek (quite possibly the strongest contender for the single worst piece of broadcast television that I've ever seen.  It was offensively bad, in more than one sense of the word).  It's a pet theory and possibly bollocks but I genuinely suspect that Life's Too Short was mostly Gervais' doing, or at the very least, I suspect that there's an element of truth to that theory.

Cuellar

OR Merchant gave Gervais a bigger role to give the impression that it was all him. If it goes badly, Gervais takes the fall, if it goes well, Merchant looks like a selfless genius.

Merchant is playing a Machiavellian game here. I belive fully that he wrote Derek then gave it to Gervais saying "Nah. I don't want the credit don't worry about it mate"

Deyv

Quote from: St_Eddie on February 02, 2019, 06:37:19 PM
I suspect that there's an element of truth to that theory.

Your theory?

St_Eddie


Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Merchant also looks quite bored and uncomfortable in LTS. I know he's supposed to be playing a subdued, semi-realistic version of himself, but there's just no energy to his performance at all. Compare that to his performances in Extras and Hello Ladies, where he's clearly enjoying himself. Extras is a deeply flawed show, but it usually stepped up a gear whenever Merchant was on screen. I think he's an innately funny comic actor.

Elderly Sumo Prophecy


Utter Shit

Worth remembering that, as bad as the series was, the Life's Too Short special was actually really good.

Deyv

Quote from: St_Eddie on February 02, 2019, 07:14:10 PM
Yes.  Do you want a chart with diagrams and shit?

Do you mean to be as aggressive as you seem to be? I wasn't having a go, I was just amused the way you phrased the bit I quoted.

Quote from: Utter Shit on February 02, 2019, 08:34:43 PM
Worth remembering that, as bad as the series was, the Life's Too Short special was actually really good.

I liked the bit with Liam Neeson, which I think everyone is familiar with maybe. My uncle was a massive fan and always urged me to watch more. I never did, unfortunately.

kalowski

I liked the bit when his accountant discovered that the top rate of tax had changed.

Utter Shit

Quote from: Deyv on February 02, 2019, 08:46:52 PM
Do you mean to be as aggressive as you seem to be? I wasn't having a go, I was just amused the way you phrased the bit I quoted.

I liked the bit with Liam Neeson, which I think everyone is familiar with maybe. My uncle was a massive fan and always urged me to watch more. I never did, unfortunately.

The special was more like an episode of Extras IIRC - there was more focus on Barry from Eastenders, Les Dennis and Cheggers playing exaggerated versions of themselves than Warwick Davis. I haven't seen it in a few years so my memory is a little hazy but it was so, so much better than anything from the series.

BritishHobo

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on February 02, 2019, 07:52:05 PM
Merchant also looks quite bored and uncomfortable in LTS. I know he's supposed to be playing a subdued, semi-realistic version of himself, but there's just no energy to his performance at all. Compare that to his performances in Extras and Hello Ladies, where he's clearly enjoying himself. Extras is a deeply flawed show, but it usually stepped up a gear whenever Merchant was on screen. I think he's an innately funny comic actor.

Always found it odd that Barry from Eastenders popped up and there was basically no attempt to use the chemistry he and Merchant did amazing stuff with in Extras.

St_Eddie

Quote from: Deyv on February 02, 2019, 08:46:52 PM
Do you mean to be as aggressive as you seem to be? I wasn't having a go, I was just amused the way you phrased the bit I quoted.

No, I don't mean to be aggressive at all.  Apologies if that's how you took my comment.  It's difficult to communicate tone via typed text. My response was intended as being facetious.  Sorry.

St_Eddie

I feel really horrible that I offended you.  Sorry.  I honestly didn't mean any harm.


Deyv

Quote from: St_Eddie on February 03, 2019, 07:48:55 AM
No, I don't mean to be aggressive at all.  Apologies if that's how you took my comment.  It's difficult to communicate tone via typed text. My response was intended as being facetious.  Sorry.

Don't worry about it, I'm a paranoid person in general, to be honest. Don't feel horrible!

St_Eddie

Quote from: Utterdrivel on February 03, 2019, 12:02:24 PM
Sarky.

I was being sincere.

Quote from: Deyv on February 03, 2019, 02:57:49 PM
Don't worry about it, I'm a paranoid person in general, to be honest. Don't feel horrible!

Thank you.  I'm quite the paranoid android myself, so I know the feeling.

Elderly Sumo Prophecy

Isn't not apologising for what you say on the internet one of the golden rules? I believe it's Rule 32, Article 7 of the Rules of the Internet.

St_Eddie

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Ricky Gervais will be a guest on this Friday's edition of The Graham Norton Show, presumably in order to promote After Life.  You know what that means; a clip may well be shown, providing us with our first tantalising glimpse of Gervais' latest (and no doubt resoundingly awful) vanity project.  Patrick Stewart is also a guest, so I wonder if they'll show a clip of their scene together in Extras and remind us all of a time when Gervais wasn't a tedious, vacuous and talentless blowhard.

big egg

Quote from: St_Eddie on February 06, 2019, 09:42:03 PM
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Ricky Gervais will be a guest on this Friday's edition of The Graham Norton Show, presumably in order to promote After Life.  You know what that means; a clip may well be shown, providing us with our first tantalising glimpse of Gervais' latest (and no doubt resoundingly awful) vanity project.  Patrick Stewart is also a guest, so I wonder if they'll show a clip of their scene together in Extras and remind us all of a time when Gervais wasn't a tedious, vacuous and talentless blowhard.

Well... watched the clip on Graham Norton. It looks shit of course but not as entertaining as Derek because he's not playing a mong this time.

DrGreggles

Quote from: big egg on February 08, 2019, 11:21:13 PM
Well... watched the clip on Graham Norton. It looks shit of course but not as entertaining as Derek because he's not playing a mong this time.

Not sure he has a choice any more...

Bennett Brauer

Quote from: big egg on February 08, 2019, 11:21:13 PM
Well... watched the clip on Graham Norton. It looks shit of course but not as entertaining as Derek because he's not playing a mong this time.

You need to have less confidence in it. The clip was less than a minute long but it still looked dreadful. The funny side of dementia, a disingenuous racist term and Ashley Jensen not acting convincingly. Not that I'm one to rush to judgment. (And he's still saying Bowie wrong.)

Quote from: LynnBenfield69 on February 02, 2019, 01:23:18 AM
I have a friend in Ricky's professional orbit who complains that he's simultaneously obsessed with his credibility as well as - and seemingly at odds with - his notoriety. His mantra is "would Woody Allen do it?" which just seems arcane in 2019. He truly has become everything he pretended to despise throughout his ascent.

lol'ing at the idea that he thinks that Woody Allen would have done Life on the Road. yeah i don't remember Allen doing Annie Hall 2 about 15 years later and it being shit

Bennett Brauer

Quote from: Monsieur Verdoux on February 09, 2019, 12:07:42 AM
lol'ing at the idea that he thinks that Woody Allen would have done Life on the Road. yeah i don't remember Allen doing Annie Hall 2 about 15 years later and it being shit

Manhattan Murder Mystery started as an early draft of Annie Hall. (It was better than Life on the Road though.)

bgmnts

lol'ing at the idea of living his life in the footsteps of a VERY dodgy person.

Quote from: Bennett Brauer on February 09, 2019, 12:11:51 AM
Manhattan Murder Mystery started as an early draft of Annie Hall. (It was better than Life on the Road though.)

knew as soon as i posted it that someone would point this out

chveik

Quote from: Monsieur Verdoux on February 09, 2019, 12:07:42 AM
lol'ing at the idea that he thinks that Woody Allen would have done Life on the Road. yeah i don't remember Allen doing Annie Hall 2 about 15 years later and it being shit

tbf some of Woody Allen's recent films are shit remakes of Annie Hall.