"Pathetic little fat man. No-one's bloody laughing. The clown that no-one laughs at, they all just wish he'd die"
ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 21st September 2006
EPISODE NUMBER: Season 2, Episode 2
WRITTEN BY: Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant
Extras season 2 was a drastic improvement on a show that was already good. I firmly believe it is Gervais' best work. The concept of a no-name extra scrambling for fame has taken a new development, as Andy does become a star, yet finds it isn't what he expected. Many laughs are delivered as hi day goes from bad to worse. Cleaned out by a tramp, blowing his chance of a date, to being the laughing stock of a whole club.
This episode also fully utilizes the Barry/Darren dynamic, often the unsung heroes of the show. Seeing them squabbling over Darren's payment for Barry's roofing is a great scene, as is their cringe-inducing attempt at picking up girls. There are plenty of other great scenes too, and Maggie has one of her best moments as she tries to salvage a botched autograph attempt.
David Bowie is the guest of the week, and whilst he doesn't really play with his persona as other guests have done, he provides plenty of laughs with his song, serving as the cruelly hilarious finale. It's mean-spirited, but that often makes the jokes funnier. Andy being mistaken for a frog in the same episode is another example of Gervais being able to laugh at himself. It can be argued Andy brought the incident on himself, which is why I love the end scene so much when he goes to spend time with the fans that he had previously mocked and been condescending to. I guess sometimes he actually does learn a lesson.
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