Golden Globes Gervais 2020

[JumpAction]

It is a strange hill to die on. Argument ad populum. If you pointed out a similar discrepancy in other art forms like you did, they'd probably roll back on it.

Doesn't even have to be so obvious but yeah, just because Coldplay are popular doesn't mean Destroyer aren't fantastic.

[ian01604]

Poor (rich) ricky thinks his fans are like Tim from the office when infact they are like Finchy and Lee from the office.

[Hat FM]

Poor (rich) ricky thinks his fans are like Tim from the office when infact they are like Finchy and Lee from the office.

please tweet this to him. he'll probably see it...

[Barry Admin]

I'm seeing folks on Twitter saying "Well I've heard of Gervais and I've never heard of Stewart Lee, so that says something."

And it's like, alright? You're admitting you don't follow comedy that closely?

Gervais fans - like the chubby funster himself - are keen believers in Worthington's Law.

https://youtu.be/ScJSeUIxydA

[JumpAction]

It's a weird place to be, right?

They won't listen to celebrities of privilege but value the opinion of one comedian over another because of how popular he is. Or, really, this is just about supporting whoever agrees with you.

[Blue Jam]

I wonder what Gervais's fans think of Michael McIntyre- he's popular and wealthy so he must be good, right? ;)

I'm not surprised so many of his fans have never heard of Stewart Lee, despite him being an obvious influence on Gervais himself. When Humanity went up on Netflix I remember saying something about how it was like a stand-up set written and performed by someone who had never seen any stand-up before- the material didn't have a strong link to the overall theme (and "humanity" is a pretty broad theme) there was no real structure, no call-backs etc, it was just noise. He clearly didn't look very at-ease either- or "he's not a natural stand-up" as someone here put it.

I have to wonder if Gervais is a comedian for people who just aren't that into comedy- perhaps he's the only comedian a lot of them know because he's a household name, and they're just not that curious about seeking out more. A bit like Michael McIntyre, except that's not really fair because McIntyre does seem a hell of a lot more accomplished than Gervais.

After Humanity I watched James Acaster's Repertoire with all those call-backs at precisely the right moments and some lovely turns of phrase ("hype-man for a log flume" had me howling). I then watched Bo Burnham's Make Happy and couldn't quite believe how good he was for someone so young... my point is that there is better stand-up to be discovered just by scrolling through Netflix, and I wonder if Gervais's fans have even bothered if he's their idea a great stand-up.

[JumpAction]

To Gervais' credit, shows like The Office and Extras were particularly good. He also helped put Karl Pilkington on the map (with the support of Stephen Merchant). I don't think his stand-up is as natural or accomplished as his work in TV but he does have comedic talent, in my opinion. He makes me laugh... except when he doesn't.

It's possible that Gervais is a comedian for fans of TV comedy, not necessarily written or stand-up. I don't know for sure. I personally prefer Stewart Lee's comedy, though.

Speaking of Bo Burnham, I heard the movie he penned was really good. Eight Grade. Has anyone seen it?

[gilbertharding]

I wonder what Gervais's fans think of Michael McIntyre- he's popular and wealthy so he must be good, right? ;)

McIntyre popped up on one of those I Heart 199x shows from 2001 which they're repeating most nights before Newsnight.

It was quite bewildering how unrecognisable he was from the person he is now. He looked about 12, and spoke like Prince Charles. Don't know if appearing as a talking head on I Heart 1996 was his big break, or what...

[Moribunderast]

Gervais' name came up at a party last night and I told some friends about Derek. Nobody had seen or heard of it. They couldn't believe my description so I showed them THIS CLIP. They were gobsmacked. I watched it again this morning in my hungover state and it's just surreal. I mean, I remember taking part in the Derek threads as it aired and we all acknowledged how fucked it was but you go back and watch Gervais' performance in this scene and it is genuinely incredible. Unfamothably offensive, and that's just talking creatively.

[Dewt]

These are our peers. These people are allowed to be near you.

[trabuch]

You need to understand that these people are not evil. In all honesty I don't think RG is evil. Comedy is shit. It is stone dead. It has nothing to say and the President of the USA and the UK Prime Minister are using it to be VERY nasty. The most popular threads on this once lovely forum are quite hateful.

[Dewt]

WRONG

[Barry Admin]

Bruh, Comedy Chat used to be taxic af

A thread on how those two fucks use comedy is a great idea, though.

[notjosh]

Out of curiousity, I just did a Soulseek search for the original incarnation of Derek and found it immediately.

Not as mad as I remembered it to be honest, but then Robot Grief Dog has raised the bar considerably.

[mjwilson]

Speaking of Bo Burnham, I heard the movie he penned was really good. Eight Grade. Has anyone seen it?

Eighth Grade is fantastic, a beautiful film.

[kalowski]

Out of curiousity, I just did a Soulseek search for the original incarnation of Derek and found it immediately.

Jesus Christ that's poor. Nothing funny or clever, his accent is all over the place, real teenage stuff.

That's could be bad enough to put me off The Office.

[Carpool Dragon]

Out of curiousity, I just did a Soulseek search for the original incarnation of Derek and found it immediately.

Not as mad as I remembered it to be honest, but then Robot Grief Dog has raised the bar considerably.

Haha that's fucking despicable.

[colacentral]

Jesus Christ that's poor. Nothing funny or clever, his accent is all over the place, real teenage stuff.

That's could be bad enough to put me off The Office.

He's clearly trying to do a Peter Kay or League of Gentleman type transformative character, but his only two notes as a performer are Brent and Normal Man, so instead of a real character there you just see Brent making fun of someone with a mental disability. In fact, he could have saved that bit if he'd repackaged it as Brent's attempt to get a sketch show going.

[solidified gruel merchant]

To Gervais' credit, shows like The Office and Extras were particularly good. He also helped put Karl Pilkington on the map (with the support of Stephen Merchant). I don't think his stand-up is as natural or accomplished as his work in TV but he does have comedic talent, in my opinion. He makes me laugh... except when he doesn't

Was Extras 'particularly good'? I don't mean to single you out but I hear this a lot where people lump it in with The Office as the examples of Gervais' early brilliance. Personally I thought the 'when the whistle blows' segments were the best bits.
Gervais can't do 'straight' characters, but that hasn't stopped him desperately trying since The Office. He poured all his own grotesque character traits into Brent and audiences lapped it up. Well now he wants to be loved for the downtrodden hero he believes himself to be, yet despite being given a huge amount of free reign and good will from his contemporaries, clearly hasn't the skill or charisma required to pull it off.

[Mister Six]

Extras was sloppy as fuck, as I recall. Seemed all over the place in characterisation, and as some of the posters on here pointed out at the time, the likes of Barry from EastEnders or Keith Chegwin get the piss ripped out of them mercilessly while "proper" celebs that Gervais wants to suck up to like Ross Kemp or Sam Jackson get broad caricatures to play that are nothing like them.

Eighth Grade is fantastic, a beautiful film.

Yep, only thing of Burnham's that I've seen, but it's brilliant.

[Gulftastic]

Series one of Extras was good, the second less so and it's all been downhill for Ricky since then.

No celeb was ever as good as Patrick Stewart.

[Old Gold Tooth]

No celeb was ever as good as Patrick Stewart.

Yeah he's ace. Me and Mrs Tooth still say "it's too late, I've seen everything". Weird to think that was originally written for Jude Law until he dropped out due to scheduling.

[Cold Meat Platter]

The second series of Extras when he was appearing on Jonathon Ross as basically himself was scrotum-tighteningly bad.

Even in series 1 Millman's character kept varying between the sensible one calling out his wacky friends' prejudices to being bizarrely unempathic and dickish.

[phes]

I've been re-watching the very good S19 South Park (2015) and spotted a proto RG at the Globes 2020.

https://youtu.be/fv2ZMN3T18E

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

You can basically watch Gervais becoming a hack in the course of the Extras Christmas Special.

First, there's the whole section with Maggie/Ashley Jensen. Their friendship was the anchor to the show, and the second series finale was a natural conclusion to Andy becoming more mature and responsible. In the Special, she's becoming destitute, over the course of poorly written segments that are meant to extract as much pathos as possible from the situation rather than have some degree of authenticity (something he would repeat for Derek). Until Andy remembers she exists, because her whole point is basically to be an indicator of Andy being down to earth, not a character.

Then, there's the Celebrity Big Brother speech, the moment where Andy speaks his heart out and sacrifices his entire celebrity to acknowledge he's flawed and that fame and reality TV turn people into monsters. You know, the speech that makes everybody stop and think, "He's right, reality shows are the worst thing, because they show humanity at its worst." Except that in fucking 2007, you already had hundreds of similar columns or speeches, often more incisive, and, guess what?, none of them had changed a fucking thing. And the final scene to The Great Dictator it is not.
The whole speech is also designed to make Andy look good, impassioned and righteous. Because the whole speech is just something that belongs to a Ricky Gervais interview or monologue. Andy finally sees the light, because he morphs into Gervais or becomes a mouthpiece for Gervais. He just makes a generic tirade about the culture of fame, and everybody goes gaga over the sharpness of his observations and the courage of admitting he was wrong.

The two series of Extras were about Gervais having some kind of double that shared his own worst tendencies, the version of himself he didn't want to turn into. A bitter guy, a starfucker, someone who had compromised on his vision, etc. In the Special, Andy is redeemed by turning into the actual Ricky Gervais, the sharp comedian and observer. Because it's obvious that such a speech will improve Western civilization as its lowest point in 2007, when celebrities such as Paris Hilton were all the rage. It can't get worse, can it?

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

I don't know Ricky Gervais, I've never met Ricky Gervais or watched any of his shows, but... he's the kind of man who would pose for a picture of himself wearing a crown of thorns and with a microphone stand slung over his shoulders, like a cross, and the word ATHEIST scrawled across his chest in red paint. As if he, a famous comedian who's had several opportunities to make TV shows and do standup for money, is the saviour of the world and also somehow the real oppressed man. That photograph is all I need to know he's a fucking dose. And so far I ain't been proven wrong.

[Phoenix Lazarus]

I don't know Ricky Gervais, I've never met Ricky Gervais or watched any of his shows

A Gervais virgin!

[QDRPHNC]

Gergin.

[Noodle Lizard]

The second series of Extras when he was appearing on Jonathon Ross as basically himself was scrotum-tighteningly bad.

I always wondered if the clip of Andy on the show was taken from one of Gervais's actual appearances. I also can't really imagine someone of the character's bad sitcom calibre being invited on Jonathan Ross, much less going down well. That was all a bit odd, really.

[Noodle Lizard]

Yeah he's ace. Me and Mrs Tooth still say "it's too late, I've seen everything". Weird to think that was originally written for Jude Law until he dropped out due to scheduling.

Is that right? God, that would've been nowhere near as good. The humor comes almost entirely from the fact that it's esteemed, mild-mannered Patrick Stewart having a juvenile obsession with seeing naked ladies and contriving ways to do so. Jude Law could probably click his fingers and some boobs would appear, especially around that time.

It is kind of astonishing the caliber of celebrities they managed to command - especially for a "could-go-either-way" followup to The Office, back when TV wasn't considered a particularly respectable thing for movie stars to do. I don't imagine Gervais, at least, could pull it off now - I expect the few proper celebs involved in Life's Too Short were horrified by the final product.