Ricky Gervais' "Finest Work"

[Matthew Dawkins Jub Jub]

Fuck me. I've never seen Derek, but now I feel compelled.

Someone here tell me the highlights and lowlights.

[g0m]

In S01E02, there's this incredible moment where - in the style of The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) and the music video for Take On Me (1985) - I jump through the tv screen and beat Derek's ass with my own two hands because of how much he sucks

[idunnosomename]

Derke is kind because the dialogue says he is 😪👏

[Captain Z]

This made me laugh and cry at the same time. And shit.

[Shaxberd]

Can't wait for Derek to be honoured in the pantheon of sitcom treasures with its own unofficial dining experience.

Come on in to our immaculately recreated nursing home for a slap-up feast. Guffaw as you're sexually harassed and patronised by our kooky staff-cum-waiters (cum reference intended!). Weep as Derek reminds you of the importance of kindness, after wrestling one of our guests into a headlock. And that's not all, as one lucky diner WILL go home with their very own robot grief dog.

[madhair60]

will say it again, the live watch threads of Derek were maybe the funniest this place has ever been, certainly the most manic/hysterical.

[dead-ced-dead]

We'll be talking about Derek long after many good comedies have come, had threads started here on C&B'd that get 2-3 pages per season, then go and are forgotten to time.

[checkoutgirl]

When Derek's dad says "Big Hairy ass" is the best bit. When Kev says "The hair, the glasses, the catchphrase, brilliant" and goes around with his trousers off and his veg out is the second best bit.

If I was pushed and had to pick an honourable mention it would be when Dougie wrote "Knob's Cheese" on the back of a rabbit before kicking out a health inspector for looking at a kettle.

Those are hard to pick though because there are so many great moments.

[Fambo Number Mive]

Is it more important to be kind than clever or good looking? Society seems to value good looking people much more than clever or kind people.

Writing on the back of a fucking rabbit? Are we meant to like these characters?

[The Bumlord]

Why is he so obsessed with crying in everything he does?

I mean, he's good at it, I just wonder what sort of terrible trauma he's dwelling on

[checkoutgirl]

Can't wait for Derek to be honoured in the pantheon of sitcom treasures with its own unofficial dining experience.

Laugh as we recreate behind the scenes hijinks as Derek gets Dougie in a headlock and farts on his head. Giggle as the stinky guff registers and Dougie quits on the spot saying "That's not even funny, that. Ye durty bastid".

[BritishHobo]

Fucking blows my mind to this day

He's not clever or good looking - I mean look at him, he's a thick ugly gormless cunt

He's not clever or good looking, no

But he's KIND

CAN YOU IMAGINE THAT? Could your mind even concieve of such a thing? A man who is not traditionally attractive. A man who is not a nuclear physicist. And yet he is still kind

To this day I can't quite believe it. I wake up sometimes and I think, no... no, remember when we used to go around thinking that anyone normal-looking, anyone who didn't do well in school - well they were worthless, obviously. You know, those weird people in towns sometimes who aren't Hollywood celebrities - very rare, but they're out there - they're hideous, garbarge people. Scum. Fuck-ugly scum. Contemptible gurning thick cunts who like The X Factor, like what thick pleb cunts like. They couldn't have value. And yet... they can be kind.

It's remarkable. It really is.

[dead-ced-dead]

Why is he so obsessed with crying in everything he does?

I mean, he's good at it, I just wonder what sort of terrible trauma he's dwelling on

If I had to guess, it's because he knows he's good at it. He's not a bad performer (The Office by itself shows that), but he's quite a limited and shallow actor. Think above average am dram actor.

There are a lot of people in that range who think: being able to cry = good acting.

That's my guess.

[dissolute ocelot]

Never mind a dining experience, I want to put my parents in an official licenced Derke home for the elderlies.

[Catalogue Trousers]

We all loves puppies
We all loves puppies
We all loves puppies
Dogs an' that.

[Ferris]

Mind when he sat on a pie and that was the whole bit? Or when he fell in a pond?

Superb. And people say he's lost it.

[PlanktonSideburns]

Anyone got A link to the Derek watchalong thread

[The Bumlord]

Anyone got A link to the Derek watchalong thread

That one?

[TommyTurnips]

will say it again, the live watch threads of Derek were maybe the funniest this place has ever been, certainly the most manic/hysterical.

Of course, Derek will never be not funny, it's one of those timeless classics. Like Fawlty Towers or summut. But reading the watch along threads and reading the pure joy of the people actually commenting on the train wreck as it happened and the unspoilt "I can't believe this shit actually got made" energy was one of those special moments. I was there too, watching along, although not actually posting yet, still lurking away. This show is of course up there in the category of vanity project responses to a scandal that would not have been made were it not for the backing and unlimited resources of its millionaire creator.

[PlanktonSideburns]

That one?

Thanks Bumlord

[Cleveland Steamer]

^ that one's a rewatch (with most people saying "fuck this I'm out" after the first episode). Has anyone got the original watch along? I've never read it.

[dead-ced-dead]

Someone gave me the link a while ago, but I've lost it. I'd be curious to reread.

[Cleveland Steamer]

I think it's this one

https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=34436.0

[sevendaughters]

And yet Derek is better than After Life

[Jumblegraws]

^ that one's a rewatch (with most people saying "fuck this I'm out" after the first episode). Has anyone got the original watch along? I've never read it.

The series 2 thread is my fave of the Derek threads https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=41535.0 It's where CaB simultaneously met and christened Robot Grief Dog. Has mbedd's Derke action figures in there too.

The Xmas special thread is great also https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=45030.0

[Des Wigwam]

I think it's this one

https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=34436.0

Excellent thread title too. Looking at the date it was a year before I joined CaB so regret not reading along at the time as it's 93 pages + the other two @Jumblegraws has posted.

Still, that's what ringing into work sick is for.

[dead-ced-dead]

I think it's this one

https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=34436.0

I'm on page 4 of this (not a busy work day) and it's glorious.

[BritishHobo]

I don't know if I can overstate the impact this show had on me. When I see Brett Goldstein doing all his big successful American acting jobs now, there's still a part of me that thinks "oh look, there's Merchant Navy!"

[dead-ced-dead]

Reading through the Derek thread reminds me just how desperate Gervais is for praise and validation. Retweeting any and all Tweets etc. calling him a genius, and posing in front of his awards/mentioning how much money he's worth any time he's criticised. JK Rowling does the same thing, and it shows that money doesn't make you any less thin skinned.

It's why my heart is filled with happiness when a creator says either nothing after something goes out or just puts out a single, "Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Glad you're all enjoying it."

Or something equally generic.

[Glebe]