TV Watch: ‘Extras,’ ‘Chris,’ and ‘Rome’

Ricky Gervais’s “The Office” is one of the funniest and most brilliant programs ever to grace a television screen. And, as with the British series “Coupling,” NBC swung and missed with the American version. With all due respect to Steve Carell, who is very funny in almost everything he does, the U.S. “Office” just isn’t very funny. The whole experience is like watching a version of “Da Ali G Show” starring James Rebhorn.

Well, Gervais has a new sitcom, “Extras,” and fortunately we can watch it Sundays on HBO at 10:30 p.m. in its unprocessed, un-pasteurized British form. The new program follows Gervais as Andy Millman, a struggling extra (or, as he coins himself, background artist) trying desperately to get that coveted line in a film. Obviously the biggest challenge for Gervais with this series is to distance himself from his iconic incarnation as David Brent. Like “The Office,” “Extras” follows the insatiable quest for fame; but the only thing similar about Brent and Millman is Gervais’ signature laugh.

Whereas Brent could never get any respect from anyone, Millman manages (for the most part) to make friends, have success with the opposite sex, and, most importantly, make jokes that people on the show actually laugh at. Gervais also is not the center of attention. Each week he shares the spotlight with a big-name star satirizing him or herself; the first week’s episode featured an Oscar-hungry, foul-mouthed Kate Winslet, and last week was Ben Stiller’s attempt to make a poignant film about Bosnian war victims. Gervais’ cohorts include Ashley Jensen as Andy’s dim-witted friend Maggie Jacobs, and his “Office” and “Extras” co-creator Stephen Merchant as useless agent Darren Lamb.

“Extras” is slow-paced, and while it’s not in faux-documentary style like “The Office,” it is not quite a sitcom, either. There’s no laugh track, and there are moments, like some of those at Wernham Hogg Paper Merchants, when the show feels like a full-fledged drama. It takes a little bit of time to get used to. But just watch Andy’s monologue at a Catholic discussion group, and you’ll be sold. The humor, while sometimes more offensive than that of “The Office” (e.g. jokes about cerebral palsy), is unmistakably Gervaisian, and that means unequivocally hilarious. Thankfully, NBC can’t get its hands on it. Yet.

Everybody Hates Chris: This show has been almost universally lauded by critics as one of the best new shows of the year. But one can’t help but feel that the humor on “Chris” has been ripped from the “Friday” films. The series is apparently based on Rock’s life as a 13-year old growing up in Bed-Stuy but attending an all-white school. But remember: this is from the writing team of Rock and Ali LeRoi, who brought you such hits as “Head of State” and “Down to Earth,” two movies which were somehow not universally lauded by critics. I’ll give it this—it’s definitely the best new show on UPN. “Cuts,” hand over your crown.

Boston Legal: When it began, despite its strange music and stranger directing (for some reason we see shots after shots of people’s hands), “Boston Legal” was an enjoyable trifle. Then, mysteriously, it was kidnapped late last season by four aging, idiotic women whose show’s only redeemable quality is that its theme song is written by Danny Elfman. But the ever-appealing Monica Potter has been removed, and the even more appealing (and British) Rhona Mitra will soon follow her out the door. Candace Bergen’s tired act belongs in one of her old Sprint commercials. Even Captain Kirk and the guy from “Stargate” can’t save this show.

Rome: This 100-million dollar epic, along with “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Extras” makes HBO’s Sunday night lineup the best of any night on any channel. An elegant and graphic portrayal of Rome during Julius Caesar’s rise toward emperor, “Rome” vacillates between the political and military intrigue of Caesar and Pompey and the day-to-day trials of two ordinary soldiers from the thirteenth legion. There are wonderful performances all around, highlighted by Polly Walker’s portrayal of Atia, niece of Caesar and mother of Octavian.

—Staff writer Alexander C. Britell can be reached at abritell@fas.harvard.edu.