Extras

Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett

Incisive, fearless and laugh-out-loud funny, "Extras" will appeal to anyone who liked "The Larry Sanders Show" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley

If you loved "The Office" you may have grave doubts that any followup comedy could be as good and as quote-the-dialogue funny. "Extras" is that - another triumph, and a perfect Sunday-night companion piece for "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

People WeeklyTom Gliatto

A looser show [than The Office], another comedy of frustration, but with a feckless sweetness (which is exactly what My Name Is Earl lacks). [17 Oct 2005, p.39]

The New RepublicLee Siegel

The most original and brilliant show on television.

Washington PostTom Shales

It's got edge galore, but it's the kind that sneaks up on you and proves again that Gervais has the subtlest kind of brilliance, hard to categorize but easy to enjoy.

Los Angeles TimesRobert Lloyd

At once more modest and more ambitious than its predecessor; more focused on detail and yet more expansive. It is also excruciatingly funny, with an emphasis on excruciating.

Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert

'Extras" is far less terminally existential than ''The Office," less depressing to watch.

SlateDana Stevens

Even if Extras never accedes to The Office's heights of comic sublimity, it's still a rare find on American TV: a series that combines the ascendant genre of cringe comedy with Gervais' rich comic gifts, and his trademark humanism.

The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley

A worthy and exhilarating new HBO companion to "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

Detroit Free PressMike Duffy

An instant chucklehead classic.

Slant MagazineEric Neigher

Not quite The Office II, not quite a wholly different breed, Extras should nevertheless please Gervais aficionados and newcomers alike.

Wall Street JournalDorothy Rabinowitz

Mr. Gervais has in no way lost his touch.

The Onion A.V. Club

No one can backpedal his way into a ditch quite like Gervais.

LA WeeklyRobert Abele

[Merchant and Gervais'] meetings are gemlike exchanges of deadpan incompetence and hair-pulling frustration, worthy of the bygone era of comedy teams.

TV GuideMatt Roush

Extras captures the stifling boredom and raging egotism of life behind the camera.

San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollum

"Extras'' doesn't quite rise to the same level [as "The Office"], but it is very funny and Gervais plays another memorable character

Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland

Very British, coasting on quiet pauses, subtle digs and ironic discomfort -- a bonus for some, a strong negative for many.

VarietyBrian Lowry

Gervais and Merchant excel at capturing scenes of quiet discomfort as well as palpable desperation in the face of near-constant rejection. Those qualities elevate "Extras""Extras" above the surface-deep "Entourage" or often-frustrating "The Comeback."

USA TodayRobert Bianco

Though he's playing a smarter, wittier, more self aware character than he did in The Office, Gervais displays the same gift for the social faux pas, and the same inability to extract himself from increasingly improper conversations.

New York PostLinda Stasi

Not that the show will be everyone's English cup of tea, but there are enough "A" list Hollywood stars (making fun of themselves) each week to bring in even the most easily offended, but curious, viewers.

PopMattersTim Whitelaw

Millman is closer to Gervais than Brent ever was, and Extras teases out compelling tension from his desperate efforts to enter the world of the glitterati.

Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan

Millman... is kind of an irritating guy, and the conceit of the show wears thin pretty quickly.

Village VoiceJoy Press

Gervais is a comic genius specializing in the art of discomfort, but this new character doesn't have the same compelling anti-charisma as The Office's David Brent--in part because Andy is such a peripheral figure in his workplace, but also because he's a more subtle creation, a mixed bag of the admirable and reprehensible.

Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman

Tedious.