'The Ricky
Gervais Show,' funny radio
HBO show is an update of 'The Office' star's show
By Tom Conroy
Feb 18, 2010
On many popular morning radio shows, the two wacky hosts have a staffer or frequent guest who goes on air, says stupid things and is mocked and abused by the hosts. “The Ricky Gervais Show” is basically a very good, very funny version of that old shtick.
Originally broadcast on British radio and then released as podcasts, the series, debuting on HBO on Friday, Feb. 19, at 9 p.m., features the British comedian Ricky Gervais and his off-screen collaborator from “The Office” and “Extras,” Stephen Merchant. They discuss various topics with their former radio producer, Karl Pilkington, who reliably comes up with moronic observations, delivered in an affectless voice that makes them sneakily hilarious.
After Merchant references a Serbian scientist who has developed a new type of vibrator, Pilkington says blankly, “To a lot of people, sex is important.” Pilkington’s regional working-class accent puts it over the top.
For TV, the audio is augmented by animated caricatures of the three stars sitting around a table, with frequent cuts to scenes illustrating Pilkington’s flights of idiocy. One such scene shows an old woman aging backward while Pilkington explains that reverse aging would be better because babies wouldn’t know they were about to die.
As people have been pointing out since the first episodes were broadcast back in 2001, the series should really be called “The Karl Pilkington Show,” since he provides most of the laughs, followed by Merchant, who usually comments wittily on the topic before Pilkington runs with it. Gervais largely limits himself to coming up with new ways to express how stupid or delusional Pilkington is.
In his years of working with Pilkington, Gervais says, “I’ve seen him blossom from an idiot to an imbecile.”
On the down side, Gervais’ browbeating sometimes gets tiresome. Moreover, the animation, while often clever, doesn’t really add that much to the experience.
But TV has a long, honorable tradition of shows you can watch while cutting your toenails or folding the laundry without fear of missing anything significant. In this way, “The Ricky Gervais Show” reflects its origins in talk radio, which is meant to be consumed while you’re doing something else.
In fact, sitting down and watching the show may feel like a waste of time. The humor works better if viewers let it sneak up on them.
|
|
|
