Me and Ricky Gervais: our shared mind

Sometimes I wonder if Ricky Gervais and I have the same brain. Okay, he’s a comedy genius, I’m not. But sometimes he says stuff and I wonder how the words in my brain have managed to come out of his mouth.
Take today’s outpouring at the Extras press launch:

As he considers his first move into drama with his co-writer Stephen Merchant, Gervais said UK broadcasters “just can’t do or don’t do” shows of the calibre of US hits like the Sopranos, 24, The Wire and The Shield.

“I just can’t remember the last time I watched a British drama, probably something like GBH,” said Gervais at today’s press launch of the second series of Extras.

“I don’t give them a go and turn off. They just don’t come into my vision. I only watch about five British shows and they are probably all reality shows.”

Which would be spooky enough as it is. Then this:

Gervais also excluded Paul Abbott’s six-part BBC series State of Play from his assessment – “oh yes, of course, sorry”

Aargh! It’s like having a trapdoor at the back of your head and knowing someone’s been sneaking a peak when you’ve been looking the other way.
Even worse, I can’t make my old observation about how the Discovery channels only show stuff about sharks and the history channels only show stuff about Nazis any more, because Gervais has already used it in his Animals tour. Everyone thinks I’m trying to pass off his jokes as my own. Git.

US TV

Preview: Smith

Ray Liotta and Jonny Lee Miller

In the US: CBS, Tuesdays, 10pm ET/PT. Starts September 19th.

In the UK: Acquired by ITV for ITV4 for 2007; Hallmark has second-run rights

Heat: The Series. Sounds like a great idea, doesn’t it? Well, maybe not, but in the right hands it could be. Are the hands of John Wells, the man who largely messed up The West Wing post-Sorkin, the hands that could take Michael Mann’s classic and turn it into quality television drama?

Surprisingly, almost.

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US TV

Review: Bones 2.1

Bones

In the US: Second season, Wednesdays, Fox, 8/7c

In the UK: Not airing at the moment. Sky One and Five (probably) for the second season. Nothing official yet.

Characters re-cast: 0

Major characters gotten rid of: 0-1

Major new characters: 1

Format change percentage: 10%

I didn’t take to the first episode of Bones. It all seemed just a little bit too silly compared with CSI (which is saying something). I’ve watched a few episodes of the first season since, and it’s still pretty ropey.

So I went into this with low expectations. Was I justified? Pretty much. I won’t say it was awful, but it’s still not a fantastic piece of television.

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