so the other night nellie and i finished the tv series 'extras.' its the second series created by ricky gervais, the same guy that created 'the office.' similar to 'the office,' 'extras' consists of only two seasons and one 2 hour christmas special. seasons in england however are only 6 episodes. so really its just 12 total episodes and one 2 hour special.
so the 2 hour special revolves around the ricky gervais character and that he wants to move on to bigger and better projects but he's not big enough to get quality roles and he turns down most of the other offers that come through the door. at one point he is talking to his agent and asking why he's not getting any roles. his agent basically tells him that he needs to decide what he wants. he wants to be super famous, yet he also wants to have credibility and respect, which his agent tells him is something that few people in this business have ever achieved and that he (ricky gervais' character) will never be one of those people that achieves both. he eventually decides that he wants fame and fortune.
so i dont know if the show in any way has any sort of similarities to what ricky gervais actually faced in his own life, but in a way it seemed like it. both of the series he created were very popular (hence the american spin off) and didnt need to end after two seasons, but ricky gervais wanted to move on to other projects. he totally could have milked them for tons of money (as it turns out he has made a ton of money anyways from his projects). but i admire him quite a bit for walking away to try something else even though what he had created was doing extremely well. he wasnt making the shows for the fame and fortune as much as to satisfy his own personal interests and desires. so many other shows just go on and on because 'they can' even though they arent producing a good product anymore. i would argue the american office is in this boat. my brother and i were talking about that the other night. i was finally converted to it a couple seasons ago, but its just lacking inspiration and brilliance now. the problem is that they have no motivation to be brilliant. they have created a fan base where no matter what they did, their loyal following would stick around for at least another 5 seasons, and they know it. compared to a show like '30 rock,' 'the office' is hardly putting out an impressive product week after week. 30 rock is on par with 'arrested development' and 'seinfeld' brilliance. two other shows that exited at the right time. granted, 'arrested development's' exit wasnt by choice, but its that premature exit that creates such a lasting impact. seinfeld's exit was voluntary, but they were at the peak of popularity which made their exit feel premature.
anyways, i could go on and on. ive never seen 'lost,' but i think it could have benefited by lasting only a couple of seasons. 'prison break' should have lasted just one season. just break out of the prison and be done with it. people would still be talking about that awesome 'prison break' show that was only around for one season but it was 'so coool.' as it is, they tried to milk it and it got canceled. the 'band of brothers' series was a fantastic series because you got to know the characters, followed them through an incredible experience, and then they were out of your lives forever. if they would have had a 'band of brothers - the post war years,' i would have for sure watched it, but it would have completely ruined the series. it just ended and i was longing for more, which is why i will always love the show. same thing with 'extras.' once it finished, nellie mentioned how it was a great ending. i agreed. a fantastic ending to a fantastic show. we sat there on the couch and i wished there was more, but knew full well that as much as i hated to admit it, it was better this way.
