Extras Christmas Special

[6ULDV8]

I've never seen this series, but judging by everyone's excitement, I think I'll watch this special.... sounds like you all enjoy it

Not attempting to 'SPOIL' here...

Eff' if you have not followed the show (as the wife & I hadn't, we had seen maybe 2 episodes total between us) then this special can feel a little 'long & dry'.

Having read up on the show & knowing the little I did before hand made some of the 85 min.s endurable IMHO.

[eefanincan]

Good point, Joker. I was thinking that I might get this program AND some of the other series then watch the Christmas special after I'd seen a few of them.

Don't know why I never really started watching this, it seems that so many people really enjoy it.

[6ULDV8]

Good point, Joker. I was thinking that I might get this program AND some of the other series then watch the Christmas special after I'd seen a few of them.

Don't know why I never really started watching this, it seems that so many people really enjoy it.

Yes Eff'...

I'm not knocking the show or the Xmas special as such...

It just wasn't my / our cup of tea to start with, but with all the ho-ha everywhere about the crimbo special, well, we just had to watch it.

From what I can gather from transcripts on the web & a convo' in IRC with an Extra's freak, the US version has a few lines cut out of it, seeing what was cut makes a little sense (it's not much but enough for the hard core followers to cry foul) as it's just a reference to certain UK personalities that the US audience would scratch their heads at.

All that being said...

Both series one & series two are available in full, USA & UK versions (if there are any dif's between them) on several sites if you have the hard drive space & the inclination to watch them all.
(Me, I think I will skip em... again, not my cup of tea, but to each their own... again, not knocking the show one bit)

[faceless]

I watched this last night and thought it was pretty good - you'd really need to have seen the whole buildup through the series though. There's so much of this one-off that's based on their characters that half the 'jokes' would fall flat if you didn't know what was going on.

Considering the show was funded by the BBC I was a bit pissed off that I had to find an illegal source for it, 2 weeks before it's broadcast here...

Anyway, I think I've worked out who the Andy Millman sitcom character is supposed to be - Harry Enfield. Catchphrases and silly faces - they seemed to make him millions and millions of people happy though, so why that's a problem for Gervais I don't understand. He actually addresses this issue in the programme, but actually recognising and being aware of something doesn't mean that you're still not being a supercilious arse.

I'm beginning to think that Gervais genuinely believes himself to be a genius. When he comes up with a cure for bollock cancer I'll admit that's true - but not before.

[thatcomedian]

Considering the show was funded by the BBC I was a bit pissed off that I had to find an illegal source for it, 2 weeks before it's broadcast here...

It is co-produced by the BBC and HBO. What's weird is that the "Christmas Special" doesn't air until 2 days after Christmas.

[6ULDV8]

As my main gripe about being in the USA has always been the lack of real Xmas specials, I can point to the fact that most 'specials' here are run during the thanksgiving period...
(Bigger TV holiday than Xmas)
Anything else is usualy the first week of December, so this being aired last sunday was indeed late in the day for the USA...

Yes, it was a joint effort (well, lets be honest a jont funded) between BBC & HBO, but then look at the budget on a majority of the cameo roles (well, guests that show up)... it's not like they are hard up for work or work for free.... the beeb couldn't stretch to that.

It's a pisser for the UK that it was shown in the USA first, that "illegal' copies in all formats are out there now...
But lets face it... only a small percentage are still savy as to this, where to get it, let alone watch it....

It's like the DVD Screeners of movies you want to see in a cinema...
You have a choice... download & watch it or wait untill it's on a screen within a reasonable distance to where you live.

I have seen UK movies in the cinema before released in the UK, USA movies in a UK cinema before USA release...

It's not that odd that it was on HBO first with all the above taken into concideration...

[Kezza]

From what I can gather from transcripts on the web & a convo' in IRC with an Extra's freak, the US version has a few lines cut out of it, seeing what was cut makes a little sense (it's not much but enough for the hard core followers to cry foul) as it's just a reference to certain UK personalities that the US audience would scratch their heads at.

I watched this via "HBO On Demand" last night....and I agree with what Joker has said. Gervais' character makes several references that I suspect were put in for the US audience. For example, he mentions US news anchor Katie Couric, and several "American Idol" references: host Ryan Seacrest, contestant Sanjaya, as well as AI itself. Surely that was originally scripted to be "X-Factor" references.

Since the end credits clearly show that it was a joint production between HBO and the BBC, hard-core "Extras" fans in the US may cry foul.....