3. They Blur The Lines Between Genres
I don't know about anyone else, but when I first watched 'The Office', I didn't realise it was a sitcom. It was partly the subtlety of the humour, partly the format. The same format's used in 'Derek', and it's brilliant because it gives one-to-ones with characters that you wouldn't usually see, and you get moments like the "People see me, and they see the suit, and they go: "you're not fooling anyone", they know I'm rock and roll through and through" speech. But it's not just the fly-on-the-wall format, it's the blurring of comedy with drama. 'Derek' is a prime example; here, Gervais has the balls to write something that's both funny and touching in equal part, but something that makes you think. The fact that he and Merchant don't want to stay with one tone throughout is not only ambitious, it's refreshing, especially given the tragic themes of their work. And that's without mentioning how Gervais has turned the "YouTube guitar tutorial" genre on its head. Is there anything that man can't do?