But who really does have the greatest range? Jack Dee will always be grumpy, Lee Evans will always put together a frantic routine of slapstick, Coogan is always at his best when he slips back into Partirdge, which seems to happen with most other characters he plays at some point and to some extent.
Everyone has a style and something particular they are known for, Gervais' is his style of speech and the joke about knowing his own success. And yeah he might change to a degree, but really, if your favourite band didn't sound like your favourite band anymore you would be disappointed.

I agree to a certain extent, especially when talking about Jack Dee or Lee Evans. In the case of Coogan, he has a tremendous range. True, his defining moment is Partridge, but he played a multitude of characters on The Day Today, and Paul and Pauline Calf are brilliant comedy creations, quite different from Partridge. And although Saxondale wasn't wholly succesful, it still felt different from his other work.

Coogan wasn't the best example I agree, there are variations to him, but there is still the Coogan stlye and I saw it even in Saxondale myself.
Point is though, each act has his/her own character.

Ricky Gervais's popularity obviously will begin to slide at some point in time but that happens to every performer. Nobody can be in fashion forever and he is no different.

Quote: Tom Pk @ January 5, 2007, 10:05 AM

But who really does have the greatest range? Jack Dee will always be grumpy, Lee Evans will always put together a frantic routine of slapstick, Coogan is always at his best when he slips back into Partirdge, which seems to happen with most other characters he plays at some point and to some extent.

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That's true. But, thinking mainly of Evans and Dee here, their personas are not quite so set and formulaic as Gervais's.

Yes, Lee Evans almost always has his slapstack craziness, but that's just one aspect of his style, around which a whole other character can be built. Despite anything else, it's just the physical style, not the actual character. (And he's done quite a bit of acting work which has shown his personal range.)

Similarly with Jack Dee, his persona as you say is that he's always grumpy, and that's a bit wider in its 'spread' of influence than Evans's slapstick, but still leaves signifcant enough space around it for individual characters to be created.

On the other hand, look at Gervais. His 'persona' is much more specific, and leaves very, very little (pretty much just the degree/extent of it) which can vary between characters!

I liked The Office and Extras too.

There are similarities in RG's characters and how he plays them but as he doesn't try to disguise his voice or physical appearance with props and make up then I think that it's to be expected.

I haven't seen anything to touch either The Office or Extras from home grown talent in recent years and think that nobody should be too judgemental at present.

Now if you want to see samey, look no further that 3 series and 2 Christmas specials of Little Britain or David Jason's portrayal of Del Boy, Pop Larkin and Inspector Frost. He reamins huge and has done now for 20 odd years.

I would suspect that SM is a massive writing talent also but as it's never been disclosed the proportion that each writes, then we must assume it's 50-50.

RG has taken the lead in most people's perception as he has fronted both shows, indeed SM was hardly in The Office at all. In the music biz this is the known sometimes as lead vocalist syndrome.

Quote: Blenkinsop @ January 5, 2007, 3:34 PM

I haven't seen anything to touch either The Office or Extras from home grown talent in recent years and think that nobody should be too judgemental at present.

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what? extras is dogshit compared to the office plus where have u been for the last 5 years did u missed darkplace, the thick of it etc which are all on a par with the office and make extras look like the drivel that it is

I did like the character that Ricky Gervais played in When The Whistle Blows and it does show that he has some range. It would be interesting to see whether he could play a more believable character who was as far removed as that was from Brent.

If he and Stephen Merchant do try to write a drama next, as they have suggested in the past, then it will show that they are trying to move into different areas.

Quote: dyingtolive @ January 5, 2007, 5:08 PM

what? extras is dogshit compared to the office plus where have u been for the last 5 years did u missed darkplace, the thick of it etc which are all on a par with the office and make extras look like the drivel that it is

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Hi DTL

I did miss Darkplace but did see The Thick of it and I liked that very much. Though it never was mainstream as such, unlike Extras and The Office.

I suppose my comment is one of those that is not meant to be definitive as there are other shows that I loved too (Still Game is one, Lead Balloon is another but then again I never have seen Curb Your Enthusiasm and most say LB is a copy of that)

I suppose we are into my band's (Smiths) better than your band (Duran Duran) territory here and the old "one man's meat etc etc" is a viable argument here.

Not everybody likes the same things but I really feel that it's a bit premature to try and topple RG just yet.

yeah but theres a difference to having opinions (extras was good) and just being wrong (extras is good)

I agree that Extras was not as good as The Office and that the first series of Extras was better of the two but I still enjoyed it enough and more than 'a lot' of what else has been on offer in recent years (with exceptions)

IE. If it was on tonight then I'd watch it but I know many countless millions wouldn't

Overall the second series of Extras still received a very good reception in terms of viewing figures, fan response, critical response and award nominations. Everyone is free to dislike it but your opinion is worth no more than the millions of people's who do like it.

Quote: Wheeler @ January 4, 2007, 5:34 PM

Found out by who exactly? A couple of people on a comedy forum who've decided that SM is the talented one and Gervais would be nowhere without him? I'm sure he's bricking it.

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If that's in reference to me ("couple of people on a comedy forum"), I'd like to add that I don't like Merchant either.

Didn't the backlash start years ago? There's always been people who didnt like him and hated the Ricky worshipping.

Still, I think spelling his name with an extra e in the title is a low blow. Poor old Ricky.

; )

Gervais & Merchant created a cult with the office.
When your first creation is as fantabulous as that, nothing you will do subsequently will compare. Like a lot of bands first albums.

I was not putting expectations on this team of talented guy's with Extras, however i love it.
I dont embrace it as much as the office, i mean the Office was doubly bril being a first time ever docu comedy.
Good luck to these two talented men, and may they continue to entertain for a long time to come.

The day we all like the same style of comedy, will be the day we all hang up our lap tops. I mean come on, Jack Dee, billy connoly,Lee evans, Ricky Gervais, all fabulous funny comics in totaly different ways. I have a favourite of these 3, and i bet it doesn't match every one of yours.

That my friends is the bestest thing in the whole wide world about comedy.