The Extra Special Series Finale, Ep. 1 "The Extra Special Series Finale"

4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
Emmy(R) Award-winner Ricky Gervais is back as Andy Millman--a once-hapless extra who has become a sitcom star--in the special finale of the acclaimed HBO comedy series.
  • Runtime: 1 hour 21 minutes
  • Original air date: December 16, 2007
  • Network: HBO
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  Episode   Original Air Date
Synopsis
    Price  
1. The Extra Special Series Finale
  December 16, 2007
Emmy(R) Award-winner Ricky Gervais is back as Andy Millman--a once-hapless extra who has become a sitcom star--in the special finale of the acclaimed HBO comedy series.
 
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Product Details
Episode 1, "The Extra Special Series Finale"
Synopsis: Emmy(R) Award-winner Ricky Gervais is back as Andy Millman--a once-hapless extra who has become a sitcom star--in the special finale of the acclaimed HBO comedy series.
Original air date: December 16, 2007
Runtime: 1 hour 21 minutes
Captions and Subtitles: English
ASIN: B006GLTR74
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,375 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
The Extra Special Series Finale
Synopsis: Once in a great while, a man really has a chance to shine. Andy Millman is not that man. From the creators of 'The Office', Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, comes this comedy series about a nondescript Englishman who quits his job to become an actor.
Starring: Fergus Craig, Dan Tetsell
Supporting actors: Karl Pilkington, Liam Barham, Natalie Hallam
Season year: 2007
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Executive producer: Eirwen Davies
Network: HBO
ASIN: B006GLTQBQ
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Format: Amazon Instant Video (streaming online video and digital download)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Brilliance! February 24, 2008
By gkeenan
Format:DVD
This is one of the best TV shows I have ever seen. The writing is first class and the acting amazing. It more of a mini movie than a TV show and brings 'Extras' to a brilliant end. The scene with Clive Owen has to be one of the funniest scenes ever written by Gervais and Merchant. I like many would like to see Extras continue, but can understand why Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have decided draw the show to an end. Every episode has been fault-less and will go down in history as one of the all time great TV shows.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Very Funny but Dios Mio! March 28, 2008
Format:DVD
Poor Maggie...it was like the Perils of Pauline, all the things she had to go through! Still and all just one of my favorite comedies ever and this episode tied everything up nicely. The DVD is worth the price just for those few minutes of When the Whistle Blows, the gaggingly awful, pre-historic sitcom Andy stars in; it seems esp. moldy in these days of brilliant shows like Curb, The Office (UK and USA versions), and, of course, Extras.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars The Extras special is extra special July 26, 2008
By DCT
Format:DVD
The modern obsession with fame was explored by writers Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant in The Office in the form of David Brent, a middle manager who made an idiot of himself on a BBC documentary series and then paid for it by losing his job and spending nights making appearances at nightclubs in front of people who couldn't care less about him.

In Extras, Gervais and Merchant returned to the celebrity theme as Andy Millman, the character played by Gervais, discovered that the perks attached to starring in the very popular, albeit extremely lowbrow, comedy, When the Whistle Blows, made it difficult for him to commit to his oft-expressed desire for artistic integrity.

Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale starts with Andy sitting alone on a couch in the Celebrity Big Brother house as the other housemates bicker like emotionally illiterate cretins behind him. This brief scene reveals that when it comes to the conflict between fame and integrity the former is going to win out for Andy at some point during this chapter of Extras.

Gervais convincingly portrays Andy's frustration at his comedic lot and also his desperation when his star fades after he pulls the plug on When the Whistle Blows. "No, I told you a thousand times, I'm not going to play an alien in Dr Who", he asserts to his agent post-Whistle, but in the next scene he's playing an alien in Dr Who.

Andy's progressively more abrasive personality most movingly affects his relationship with his only friend, Maggie (a superb Ashley Jensen).

Maggie's life goes into freefall after she gives up supporting artist work after being degraded by one of her favourite actors on the set of a film about Lord Byron. Clive Owen does an uncomfortably amusing turn as the sexy bastard who insults Maggie.

Andy complains a lot about having to do awful television programs such as Hotel Babylon, but his financially comfortable situation is contrasted with Maggie's dire plight.

Maggie ends up residing in a shabby little flat and vacuuming floors, cleaning toilets and washing dishes for a living. There are some beautifully humorous scenes between Andy and Maggie, including one involving a mud pack and a girdle, that serve to let the viewer know their friendship can be solid, even though it's had its ups and downs, as all meaningful relationships do.

Merchant and Shaun Williamson (aka Barry from EastEnders) are again a terrific double act as the useless agent and his unemployable client, while Shaun Lye, Andy's rival and the man whose parents bought him a house when he was a struggling actor, is deliciously smug as the now successful Greg Lindley Jones.

Gervais and Merchant allow their protagonists to have many and diverse flaws, including jealousy, pettiness, incompetence, stubbornness, stupidity, and arrogance, however, central characters like Andy and Merchant's Darren Lamb are redeemed by traits like vulnerability, loyalty, and sensitivity.

In other words, Gervais and Merchant allow their characters to be human.

It could be argued that Andy's antagonism towards Big Brother and its gathering of "desperate people" (the housemates are, among others, a former contestant on The X Factor and a mother who's well-known because her son was murdered) is undermined by the fact that Gervais watches the show and has discussed episodes of it on his blog.

Although some viewers might think Gervais and Merchant aren't playing it enough for big laughs in Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale, the well-balanced mix of pathos, drama and comedy makes the program brilliant indeed.

Note - Fans of Karl Pilkington should look out for the bald one playing a fickle fan.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious
Ricky Gervais is so funny. I loved this finale, a perfect end to his two seasons of Extras. The characters have grown, and I love them. Read more
Published 2 months ago by stephljoness
5.0 out of 5 stars The best finale in sitcom history
I never thought a show could outdo the "Newhart" finale, but this tops it. It's almost cinema-quality - hilarious at times, heartbreaking at others.
Published 3 months ago by Lele E. Wentworth
5.0 out of 5 stars Thank goodness they wrapped this up!
We watched both seasons of Extras on Netflix. After the last episode, we wondered, "That's it?!" It really didn't have much of a conclusion. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Grasshopper
4.0 out of 5 stars Surprising To Me
Watch this! I got the feeling that Ricky and Stephen were almost saying "Hey, in case you haven't noticed we can write like this, too! Read more
Published 11 months ago by NoPushover
3.0 out of 5 stars No Extra Cruel Reality
I had not seen The Extras so this The Special (Final) looked as an explicit exhibitionism of a commoner made it to the top of a show-business and back while arrogance and lack of... Read more
Published on April 26, 2010 by Michael Kerjman
4.0 out of 5 stars A Happy Ending - Gervais Style
I was very happy to be watching this series final for Extra's and felt that it delivered the kind of wrap up I was hoping for. Read more
Published on November 19, 2009 by Bridgette Burton
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, funny & genuinely thought provoking...
Closer to a full length movie than another episode of a highly successful TV series, "Extras - The Special" is a funny, superbly acted and, in the end, genuinely thought provoking... Read more
Published on October 6, 2009 by nicjaytee
5.0 out of 5 stars Anything with Ricky Gervais is excellent
The last episode of Extras (I had never seen any of the series) was like a movie. I savored every moment and Ricky was, as usual, brilliant. It is touching and so pertinent. Read more
Published on April 9, 2009 by Karen Anderson
1.0 out of 5 stars Superfluous is more like it.
I was so disappointed with this series finale. There was so little about it that was funny. They should have left it with the series 2 ending that they seem to have ignored. Read more
Published on December 21, 2008 by Mark_Lucas_TBP
5.0 out of 5 stars Extras-The Extra Special Season Finale
Very funny! If you liked the original British version of "The Office" you'll love "Extras" as well. Ricky Gervais created and stars in both. Read more
Published on September 15, 2008 by P. Wiley
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