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Reviews
Extras (2005)
The voiceless world of an Extra
In light of The Office's brilliance, our expectations are high for Gervais's new show, Extras. Gervais plays a struggling "little 43 year old" actor, who has for the past five years given his shot at acting. And failed. Desperate for even one line, the first show sees Gervais emotionally blackmailing a traumatised foreigner upon whose life actor Ben Stiller is making a film for a line in the movie.
Extras follows a very similar humour scheme to The Office, however, the flow of the script is raised slightly from the mundane, taking on a distinctly more energetic, punchline-based style...though this is neatly attributed to differing speech and humour types of each character. The awkward faux pas and stunned silences that made The Office classic are revitalised for Extras, played out in a relatively fresh manner. Unfortunately, a bit too much of the Office's material seems recycled for Extras. A strong element of David Brent is emitted from Ben Stiller, re varnished only with more arrogance and superiority. Stiller's climactic rant, chilled with a shocked silence from the crowd, in both style and camera-work is almost identical to Brent's at the end of Episode 2,04. Miscellaneous other lines seem vaguely re-iterated versions of lines from The Office, too strong to simply be classified as a reference. But having seen only episode 1 of Extras, it is difficult to compare it to the chain-success of The Office.
In conclusion, Extras seems liked a toned down form of the Office. While audience all over England could effortlessly relate to the mundane, soul-destroying atmosphere of Wernham Hogg, Extras shows us a world many of us are unfamiliar with, placing viewers in a position of spectator-ship, rather than immersing them in the world. Which is ironic, given that The Office followed a fly-on-the-wall approach, and Extras is shot in a standard sitcom/drama format. In spite of perhaps the ever-so excessive repetition of The Office's humour, Extras is still a fabulous watch, and it's inability to stand up to The Office (no mean feat!), does not prevent it from being a great new refreshing comedy that won't be easily forgotten; soaring past recent sitcoms such as My Family and My Hero.
All that remains is to see how the rest of the series fares. 8/10
Judge Judy (1996)
Judge Judy: Sharp as a Hawk
Since first viewing Judge Judy shy of six months ago, I have been hooked upon ITV2's daily triple bill of her show.
Real-life small claim (i.e. below $5000) cases are settled in the courtroom of Judge Judy. Beside her stands the silent bailiff Byrd; and as the plaintiff and defendant, along with any witnesses they chose to bring, relay their versions of the story. Judge Judy is quick to pick out any holes in the story; giving the subject one more chance to start talking honestly. It takes little more than a second for her to bring down an entire argument on accounts of one weakness, unveiling the clear truth. Whichever side is winning, Judge Judy takes the time to offer a blunt review of each person's behaviour, leaving them with sound advice for the future. Thus one way or another, a lesson is learnt. Judge Judy is quick to analyse the entire case, rarely exhibiting bias, and in minutes provide a lucid, logical answer as to who is in the right, and who in the wrong, and what the judgement should be.
Judge Judy is intelligent, blunt, and a great icon of Justice. I never get tired of her show, despite the frequently similarly structured cases. This is a great way to unwind, and from the mistakes of others and their scrutiny by Judith Sheindlin, you learn some terrific lessons in life, as well as about America's justice system. 9/10