Extra British Obscurity
Extras has never been concerned about pandering to its US audience, and I can appreciate that. It was created in London by two Brits and originally aired on the BBC. So my qualms aren’t with the series, just my lack of understanding. While I think this was the worst episode of Extras I have seen in the series’ short history, it still had its moments.
The issues relating to British pop culture are my problem, I suppose. It seemed like I missed the humor in the majority of the punchlines on Sunday night, particularly at The BAFTA’s. It would require a bit of setup, and if there was a method of cluing the American audience in on his British references, I would be all for it. But that would probably detract from the focus of the episodes, simply rendering it a bad comedy, as opposed to a good comedy I am occasionally in the dark about.
If Gervais and Merchant decide to create a third season, it would be appreciated if they stopped harping on how simplistic the lions share of British television is, the ineptness of fans of such television and as a result, how unrespectable Andy is. I am sure Gervais has endless examples about how British television is mired in mediocrity (We could do the same here), but when Gervais keeps forcing the issue, it starts to make Extras as monotonous and repititive as the brand of television that he is mocking.
With all of that said, Chris Martin was absolutely hilarious tonight. The episode peaked in His five minute cameo in the opening minutes. He has a reputation regarded as something of a pompous rock star, whether or not it is true I have no idea. But at the very least it was good to see him have fun with the sullen aspect of his public image. Honestly, I can’t imagine what Gervais or Merchant says to these people to get them to parody themselves like this, but its an enviable trait by most TV producers, I’m sure.
While this episode was underwhelming, and missed its mark on several occasions, I have seen next weeks episode (already posted On Demand) and it more than compensates for this one’s shortcomings.
February 8th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Extras is bloody brilliant, and as a Brit I have no problem understanding it. Up until reading your post I didn’t really think about some of the humour being impossible for Americans to understand.
I suppose I give Ricky and Stephen credit for not selling out and making it universal. Instead they’ve kept it very British and it certainly helps make it a great show.
February 9th, 2007 at 3:30 pm
I felt particularly lost during the BAFTA’s episode. In the first season, just based on content I could grasp the basic gist of jokes pertaining to Les Dennis, Vinnie Jones and Ross Kemp. But for whatever reason, I was like a blank slate on Sunday.
Completely agree, the series thrives in its current stylization, to tamper with it so that a few isolated lines could reach a wider audience would be ill-advised. Even if some of the humor is lost on me, Extras is still the best comedy on American television (short of “The Office” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”).