People: The finale is going to be ‘Extra’ special
It feels like an actual scene from HBO’s “Extras.”
Ricky Gervais, the writer-director-star of the critically acclaimed showbiz lampoon, is sitting on the set of “Ghost Town,” a 2008 release and his first feature film as a leading man.
A few feet away, a group of real-world extras are stationed on the other side of a flimsy retractable rope line.
“They’re not allowed to mix with me. That’s electrified,” Gervais boasts, not breaking from the signature deadpan that helped him win a best actor Emmy for “Extras” earlier this year.
“If they get anywhere near me, 40,000 volts go through them. It’s true.”
He’s kidding. Right?
Either way, Gervais’ transition to the big screen is leaving no room for the character of Andy Millman on the small one.
Gervais’ movie-extra-turned-sitcom-star will soon join embarrassing boss David Brent from the original British “The Office” in retirement.
Gervais and comedy partner Stephen Merchant, who plays Millman’s hilariously amateurish agent, are ending “Extras” with an 80-minute Christmas special, just like they did with “The Office” four years ago.
“It probably won’t capture the zeitgeist like ‘The Office’ did, but I think this is the best work we’ve ever done,” Gervais says.
In the surprisingly emotional finale, airing tonight at 9, Millman quits his silly sitcom “When the Whistle Blows” in hopes of working on more meaningful projects.
Of course, in the forlorn fashion of “Extras,” Millman instead fades further into obscurity, forced to accept such bit parts as an alien slug in an episode of “Doctor Who” and on a particularly washed-up edition of “Celebrity Big Brother.”
“I wanted it to properly end the series,” says Gervais. “Most of all, if you’ve never seen ‘Extras,’ I wanted you to be able to watch it and know what’s going on. It has a beginning, middle and end.”
It also has some shrewd cameos from George Michael, Gordon Ramsay and Clive Owen as themselves.
Since its debut on the BBC in 2005, “Extras” has attracted a cadre of A-list celebrities willing to unabashedly defame themselves in the name of comedy, including David Bowie, Samuel L. Jackson, Kate Winslet and Robert De Niro.
“If we ever did another ‘Extras,’ which we almost certainly won’t, I think it would be about Andy trying to make it in Hollywood and failing miserably,” Gervais says.
Perhaps, by then, he’ll be A-list enough to cameo as himself.
The birthday bunch
Actress Liv Ullmann is 69. Journalist Lesley Stahl (“60 Minutes”) is 66. Writer-producer Steven Bochco is 64. Singer Benny Andersson (ABBA) is 61. Actor Sam Robards is 46. Actor Benjamin Bratt (“Law and Order”) is 44.