STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
Having conquered the worlds of TV and film (if not quite pop music!) Ricky Gervais proved he also had something to add to the world of pod cast entertainment, with his regular pod casts featuring long time writing partner Stephen Merchant and, most notably, his former production assistant Karl Pilkington, that all his truly die hard fans would probably have seeked out straight away. Gervais obviously applied his magic touch once again, and proved being funny really seems to be his true calling in life, as they were so successful this off-beat TV spin off show has been created by American giants HBO and not done too badly itself.
The first thing everyone would probably note is the self indulgence in the title, with the most well known member of the trio seemingly held as the main driving force behind the show, when this is an accolade that goes to Pilkington, with his unusual musings on life and how he'd make the world a better place. Despite his opinionatedness, he comes across as a softly spoken, gentle person, while Gervais (made to look uncannily like Fred Flintstone!) shouts his mouth off at the incredulousness of what Pilkington says, or at least how he's phrased it. Merchant is left as the proverbial piggy in the middle, gently trying to mediate between the oddball and the matador. No matter how crazy Pilkington can sound, there is some twisted logic to his words, perhaps a little of the George Bush syndrome of having the odd clever thought, just not being able to communicate it well. Some might well say the animation can never hold up to listening on the pod cast and letting your own imagination run wild, which holds true, but the animation probably shows it closer to how Pilkington himself envisaged his odd thoughts, and so delivers the fuller comedic effect.
For those who aren't, or have no intention of, merging with the cyber age, Gervais and HBO have come together and delivered a highly watchable, always volatile and eye opening expose of the world Gervais works in after his trek to super stardom. ****
