Returning to my "watching TV on DVD" ways, I recently took in the first three episodes of season one of the Ricky Gervais' HBO series Extras. I've one word for it: mirthless. The premise is funny, the dialogue is not. The attempt at Burns and Allen duo humor is ham-handed and mildy offensive. Now, I know it's usually unfair to judge a show on its first few episodes. Many great shows take a year to hit their stride. So maybe when season two comes out on DVD, I'll give it one more shot.
Extras suffers from the same comedic misstep that Lisa Kudrow's The Comeback did. Both are just too mean-spirited to be truly funny. And I'm a big fan of black comedy, so I should be primed to savor bile-leaking humor. For instance, I think Bad Santa is freakin' hilarious and that involves a drunk criminal cursing out little kids while wearing a soiled Santa suit.
I'm trying to figure out why the mean-heartedness of Extras and The Comeback falls so flat for me. I'm thinking it's because the characters just aren't likable or sympathetic. On the flip side, they're also not interesting enough to hate. That's what I'm thinking. You?
3 comments:
i think that assessment works. i could never understood the praise for the comeback. i think kudrow is great, but i think the central problem is that your lead character can't be the one suffering weekly humiliation. at least, not without anyone else to care about.
i think if i cared about kudrow's character making a comeback it would've helped everything else, but she was a shallow ignorant ass and i don't really care if a person like that succeeds. it wouldn't be so bad, but that's what the entire premise of the show was.
i think larry david is obnoxious as well, but for some reason, curb always worked for me (i haven't seen the last season).
and i really liked kate winslet mocking herself and the oscar process on the first episode of extras. beyond that, i was done.
good to hear you agree on the comeback and extras, j.
i hadn't thought about larry david and curb. he is an interesting exception. i know a lot of people can't stand his character, but i find his obnoxiousness delightful. maybe he gets away with it because he's constantly made to pay for his sins.
extras gets better. i was initially disappointed as well. but season 1 gets better and season 2 is even better. it never reaches Office level but it does get good.
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