There are a few entries from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant on our long list at Britcom Goes to the Movies, but we start with perhaps their least remembered and least successful offering, the period coming-of-age comedy/drama Cemetery Junction.
In contrast, the pair’s second sitcom offering, Extras, is in the annals of the all-time great British comedy shows. A by-product of a newfound celebrity and the connections it brought with it in 2005. Guest stars galore and a version of what might have been if The Office didn’t have the freedom to be itself.
Cemetery Junction was Gervais and Merchant’s first foray into cinema after Extras and is still the only film they have co-written and directed. Based on an idea they’d had for a 70s set sitcom, Ricky and Steve turned “The Men At The Pru” into a feature-length offering, with only small roles for themselves and focussing on the journeys of three young men in 1970s Berkshire. They made it clear as possible that this would be a departure and for audiences to expect the hilarity of Extras and The Office.
The result, it failed to penetrate the UK Box Office Top 10, but was that because it wasn’t any good? Stay tuned to find out what Rob and Guy made of it and a lengthy discussion about Extras as well.
Ricky Gervais on the 11 o Clock Show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl_gS0FsIsM
The Ricky Gervais Show - Monkey News - Russian Chat Show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ikvq0wZAFLM
Extras - Les Dennis
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytDCab8ZoIM
Extras - Ronnie Corbett Bloopers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2FNaXLe_ro
Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant - Finding Leo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHdTve2PpeI
Gervais and Merchant on Mark Kermode
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz3MTwufC5s&t=104s
Cemetery Junction - Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYDeHIszUqA
Cemetery Junction - Snork performs Cum on Feel the Noize
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTRyiNVl_G0
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