30 June 2009 5:16 AM, PDT | WENN | See recent WENN news »
Ricky Gervais has launched a scathing attack on British comedy - insisting it's so bad he can't stand watching TV in his native country anymore.
The funnyman, who has co-written hit comedies The Office and Extras, has blasted British television shows as unoriginal, and slammed writers for lacking ambition.
He says, "I don't watch TV comedy in the U.K. anymore. We've got some poor copies of Curb Your Enthusiasm, some poor copies of Entourage, and some poor copies of Seinfeld. With a few exceptions the Americans seem to be ahead of the game... In Britain it's like you shouldn't put your head too high above the other poppies.
"I think it's the way we're brought up. Americans are told they can become the next president. English people are told, 'It won't happen to you'."
Gervais also credits his writing partner Stephen Merchant with forcing him to finish penning The Office in 1999.
He adds, "In the early days he'd have to say to me, 'Rick, don't have three sausages, you'll fall asleep after lunch.' But now, unbelievably, I'm the workaholic.
"I think it's because I don't want to die before I get all my ideas out. I started so late. And it takes me ages to get the ideas out because we write and produce and act and we worry about the font on the end of the DVD. But I wouldn't have it any other way." »
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