10 TV Shows Whose Leads Are The Worst Character

It’s worth noting that Derek is not by any means a great show. In fact, it’s a pretty bad one, filled with one-dimensional characters, recycled gags, and Ricky Gervais’ recent obsession with making trite observations about the nature and importance of kindness. There are good things about it, mainly the work of Kerry Godliman, who’s given more to do here than her thankless role in After Life.

The biggest issue with Derek, though is Derek, the character portrayed by Gervais. Nine years after the fact, it’s amazing that a TV network allowed him to do this. Despite his protestations, it can’t help but feel like he’s doing an impression of a disabled person that ranges from clumsy to downright cruel.

Even giving him the benefit of the doubt in his intentions, Derek is a dire character. Like Forrest Gump before him, his role is to deliver simple truisms that are meant to be profound, but are in fact greetings card-quality observations about being nice to other people.

True to form, Gervais gives himself every line that could be considered a joke, meaning he dominates the screen time. Some people liked it well enough at the time; it has not aged well, and only gets worse.