Just watched Life on the Road - Ricky Gervais's David Brent reboot on Netflix. Reminded me of something.
59 2017-02-11 by McGowan9
Stephen Merchant was the talent behind The Office.
59 2017-02-11 by McGowan9
Stephen Merchant was the talent behind The Office.
65 comments
n/a CompoundMediaPR 2017-02-11
Is any of Merchant's solo shit good? I tried "Hello Ladies" and I couldn't sit through it.
n/a McGowan9 2017-02-11
I haven't got around to seeing the show but his stand up special of the same name was ok. Maybe he's not great on his own but he seemed to have given Gervais balance or reigned him in a bit. Life on the Road was like the Office without any subtlety, pathos or funny.
n/a Fart_Parfait 2017-02-11
Sounds similar to the way that Ant and Jim are great together but painfully underwhelming as individuals
n/a I_Hate_Knickers 2017-02-11
No mention of Opie lol
n/a alobesmooth 2017-02-11
Opie is the Karl Pilkington of the bunch, an unnecessary buffoon
n/a FatMosque 2017-02-11
I don't think I've ever heard anything this stupid
n/a alobesmooth 2017-02-11
Your mums a tart, mate.
n/a I_Hate_Knickers 2017-02-11
Mention crumpets and the Spice Girls.
n/a 1475315963 2017-02-11
Karl drops pearls of wisdom, Opie "drops hammers"
n/a WhiteSissBarelyMale 2017-02-11
karl is a sweetard, opie just a retard
n/a JesseVentura911 2017-02-11
Fuck you for using Pathos seriously
n/a McGowan9 2017-02-11
Sorry, I have a college degree.
n/a JesseVentura911 2017-02-11
So do I you don't see me using Pathos
n/a McGowan9 2017-02-11
Ah but I'm a fancy man.
n/a enzo_trash 2017-02-11
Well I have a radio show so I guess were both doing good.
n/a CStel 2017-02-11
You gotta try standin or somethin
n/a MalcolmX_InTheMiddle 2017-02-11
He was hood in the portal series.
n/a Slippery_Slope_Guy 2017-02-11
I liked Hello Ladies.
n/a TheToolMan 2017-02-11
Me too. It was good.
n/a alamanluke 2017-02-11
Hello Ladies has its moments. But it's mostly terrible
n/a MCLyleStyle 2017-02-11
Well the Norm live with merchant is probably one of the best podcasts ever. Not sure how much Stephen is to credit for that but he was a great straight man on the episode.
n/a sickfuckinpuppies 2017-02-11
Urgh
n/a thescrapplekid 2017-02-11
He's been good on Drunk History
n/a Gene_Creemers 2017-02-11
Hello Ladies was way better than any of Ricky's solo stuff like Derek.
So yeah I'd say that Stephen Merchant was integral to why The Office and Extras were so good.
n/a TheNigIsUp 2017-02-11
Yeah he really was the Larry David of the two. Ricky's solo work has been pretty awful
n/a Anarox 2017-02-11
Curb your entusiasm made me realize how shit Seinfeld is without Larry.
n/a JMueller2012 2017-02-11
Seinfeld is the worst part of Seinfeld
n/a Anarox 2017-02-11
He really was, just a smug asshole like always
n/a Fart_Parfait 2017-02-11
Derek was not good
n/a WhiteSissBarelyMale 2017-02-11
was funny for the first few episodes but derek gets less funny and you eventually realize you're just watching an autistic person help the elderly and you question what you're doing with your self
n/a AppleBonfire 2017-02-11
It's not even that. It was watching a man do a bad retard impression. Karl was the only funny part about the show, which is why I suspect Ricky got rid of him for season 2.
n/a anarchronism 2017-02-11
DEREK SUCKED
n/a JeremyACrosby 2017-02-11
The Office sucked
n/a klarkbar 2017-02-11
The British 'Office' is hilarious, and 'Extras' is good too, but yes, it seems that Stephen Merchant was key there because everything else Gervais has done does kinda suck.
I love 'Hello Ladies.' For anyone who likes something like 'Curb..' I don't see how u couldnt find some funny stuff in there. Sucks it didn't last longer. The last episode of 'Hello Ladies' sucks though, it's all drama no laffzzzzzzzzzz
n/a I_Hate_Knickers 2017-02-11
Not for nothing, how old are you?
n/a klarkbar 2017-02-11
34
n/a boring_oneliner 2017-02-11
you wasted your life.
n/a rottenseed 2017-02-11
Me too. Wanna screw?
n/a literalotherkin 2017-02-11
How shitty is it that he didn't get a second season? Solid first season. Some interesting characters. That's Hollywood for you!
n/a AppleBonfire 2017-02-11
Give me a second series you shit.
n/a MedicatedHead 2017-02-11
THE GOOD NEWS: Besides having a massive ass, he's really a bad writer, comic, actor and director.
n/a Anarox 2017-02-11
He really fucking was, ao apparent now.
n/a moselwein 2017-02-11
Steve Coogan was the talent behind The Office
n/a I_Hate_Knickers 2017-02-11
No, he wasn't involved.
He was however on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Full circle.
n/a literalotherkin 2017-02-11
Partridge really was the inspiration for Brent.
n/a DoubleGunsSockCucka 2017-02-11
Hello Ladies is very underrated
n/a I_Hate_Knickers 2017-02-11
By whom?
n/a klarkbar 2017-02-11
It got lukewarm reviews and was cancelled after one season. I would say too that it was way funnier than that fate would imply
n/a SHITLORD_CUNTDICK 2017-02-11
Stephen Merchant carried Extras. Gervais had a few funny moments, but Merchant (and Barry) stole the show anytime they were on screen.
n/a ooyama 2017-02-11
Yeah but then how do you explain the laughless dud Life's Too Short?
n/a OpiesMammogramResult 2017-02-11
Warwick Davis was Gervais's plaything of the month, so Gervais says "Let's write something for Warwick right the fuck now!!"
Gervais goes through the phases with people where everything in his professional world revolves around them. Robin Ince, Karl Pilkington, Warwick Davis, countless others.
But, that Liam Neeson "I've got AIDS" bit was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.
n/a Audibledogfarts 2017-02-11
I'm good at improv
n/a ooyama 2017-02-11
Yeah that's true, the Liam Neeson scene was the sole funny bit. It would have fit right into Extras.
n/a decmcg 2017-02-11
Yeah, and Cemetry Junction which was pretty lacklustre. The Office, Extras and all those podcasts were great. Gervais has made a total cunt of himself since whereas Merchant still has respect amongst comedy fans even though he hasn't done anything spectacular since.
n/a OpiesMammogramResult 2017-02-11
I think it's the difference in work ethic between Gervais and Merchant.
Gervais likes being "Ricky Gervais", he wants to be a celebrity. Merchant, on the other hand, he wants to make quality work.
Just listen to their XFM radio show, it was outstanding. But, Gervais was content to just fuck around, wind Karl up, make him do stuff for his own entertainment, whereas Merchant wanted to make it somewhat good.
n/a BamMargeraOfficial 2017-02-11
There were some funny scenes in Life's Too Short and the special was pretty decent overall.
n/a spooky_rationality 2017-02-11
If you watch Norm's podcast with Merchant, Norm basically knows this and calls him the Larry David of the the office.
n/a OedipusOrca 2017-02-11
Stephen Merchant is also one of the producers on Dream Corp LLC.
n/a SkepticSloth 2017-02-11
Noooooooooope. After Derek, I'm not watching anything Gervais writes or directs on his own. Judging by the reviews, it's exactly what I thought it was - Gervais going back to the well once more fucking time, because he's practically stalled in the water career-wise.
And, yeah, Merchant was the brilliance to the writing on the Office - the cast (of both versions) is what made it the hit it is. Gervais was the awful contrasting with the other people. Extras would have flopped without the female lead reminding us his character is worth giving a shit about, once his ego inflates to the size of a double decker bus.
Anything Gervais has done - that horrifically bad "The Invention of Lying" (Gervais's neckbeard argument over atheism to the world) and his "Standup" special that was like watching a bizarre parody of what standup is - has been shit in a bucket.
The only reason this is being foisted off on us, is he's gonna blow all the money he made off the Office on these retreads and 'reboots" to try and capture the lightning in a bottle a second time, but fails to fucking get it that Merchant and the rest of the cast are needed, not just HIM.
n/a iSOBigD 2017-02-11
I don't know about you guys, but on top of Office/Extras, his radio show/podcast/animated series with Karl was so good that he can afford to make decades worth of movies and shows that maybe aren't so great and I won't mind.
n/a Dennyislife 2017-02-11
Merchant is now doing a wrestling film about a English family of wrestlers trying to make it into the wwe. The rock is in it. It sounds...awful.
n/a OpiesMammogramResult 2017-02-11
The original documentary is pretty interesting. Don't know why they'd make it an entire feature film.
Long and short of it is, there's a family of Pro Wrestlers (The Knight Family), they run a promotion and all live together in a council house, two of the kids go for a tryout with WWE, one of them got signed, became a pretty big star in WWE.
I think the movie will end before it gets to the part where she falls in love with the Coco, gets suspended and is in the doghouse, on the verge of getting shit canned.
n/a Dennyislife 2017-02-11
I hope Merchants next film 'inspired' by a channel 4 documentary is from that dogging one or the world class "a very British brothel" mind you the custard scene will be hard to top in a film https://youtu.be/z4rdf9b98kU
n/a MaskedUploader 2017-02-11
The Rock watched it one night and made a phone call. That's the whole reason.
n/a WhiteSissBarelyMale 2017-02-11
like ricky's stand up and he's got that infectious lil yimmy laugh going for him on the ricky gervais show but he's just not as witty/smart as stephen merchant. stephens stand up sucks though, he doesn't have the charisma
n/a age_of_cage 2017-02-11
Anyone who has listened to their radio show knows this assertion is nonsense. He's the fucking Opie of the group.
n/a poongobbler 2017-02-11
Nah Ricky is the Opie. Self-centred, brings the funny to a grinding halt to say some inane 'smart' thing, can't interact with characters. Not that Karl is a character but Ricky would lose his shit and call him an idiot and that was the end. He would get genuinely annoyed at him. Meanwhile Merchant would have to beg Ricky to be quiet and let Kark talk.
n/a cabaretcabaret 2017-02-11
The problem with this sentiment is that Steve Merchant is quite humourless.
n/a matterson6 2017-02-11
Ricky has a good sense of "wacky" comedy, Merchant kept it grounded in reality. But they're only good when they work together.
n/a MicroPeckah 2017-02-11
His stand up shows were excellent, no matter what garbage he's put since.
n/a WhiteSissBarelyMale 2017-02-11
was funny for the first few episodes but derek gets less funny and you eventually realize you're just watching an autistic person help the elderly and you question what you're doing with your self
n/a AppleBonfire 2017-02-11
It's not even that. It was watching a man do a bad retard impression. Karl was the only funny part about the show, which is why I suspect Ricky got rid of him for season 2.