Every HBO Comedy Ranked From Worst To Best

For Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, following up The Office was no mean feat. After a slow burn start, the show became one of the most beloved comedies of modern times, not to mention the most influential.

They made the smart choice to do something totally different with Extras. The first season was more self contained and accessible, with each episode seeing Gervais’ Andy Millman and Ashley Jensen’s Maggie as background performers on another film set, desperately trying to catch a break.

Andy was a totally different character to David Brent, and for the most part the comedy was less indebted to uncomfortable moments (though there’s still plenty of that), with a warm camaraderie established between the characters. The celebrity cameos were mostly used to great effect too, particularly Les Dennis, unbelievably funny as a sad sack version of himself.

The second season kept up the big laughs, though distorted the Millman character to something far more familiar to Gervais’ usual efforts. The execution of its storytelling was somewhat messy compared to the payoff The Office earned, but for laughs, it comes close.