I saw the advert for this animated pod-cast based show and thought it looked and would be relatively amusing, it turned out to be much funnier than I expected. Starring The Office and Extras star, writer and director Ricky Gervais; his co-writer and co-director Stephen Merchant; and their XFM radio producer friend Karl Pilkington. They have been getting together for a few years in a radio studio to have pointless conversations about particular subjects sent in by fans of the show and from hearing the news. These chats, or pod-casts, were recorded live, but the big hook of the show is that the three stars have been animated, almost in the style of Hanna Barbera, i.e. The Flintstones, with their conversations brought to life. Whatever subject they talk about, it is most often questions posed to Karl, and the hilarious comedy mostly comes from his long-winded and not always intelligent answers. Ricky and Stephen talk to each other a little too, but the best jokes come from them running off on Karl's daft comments about the subjects posed, and this is where the animation comes in handy. The show's only traditions on the programme is Monkey News, where a news article is explained (mostly by Karl), and it all comes down to the involvement of a monkey, and Ricky and Stephen also read through Karl's personal diary and spin off his unusual and weird written entries. Gervais has a fantastically infectious laugh, Merchant is a good back-up for Gervais's comedic comments towards Pilkington, and Pilkington is a lovable moron, all combined makes a brilliant comedy show, possibly one of the funniest ever to be on television that I have seen. Ricky Gervais was number 49 on The Comedians' Comedian, he was number 30 on TV's 50 Greatest Stars, and he was number 18 on Britain's Favourite Comedian. Outstanding!
Review of The Ricky Gervais Show
