Extras

Extras is, in my opinion, the best British sitcom. It was co-written, co-produced and co-starring Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (see blog post for The Office). Merchant appears in his own show for the first time, and his character became so popular that Merchant went on to do stand up comedy, as well as continuing to co-write with Gervais on “An Idiot Abroad”, “Life’s Too Short” and “Derek”. The latter one is currently airing in the UK.

Ricky Gervais とStephen Merchant が共同制作、共演したExtraは、イギリスNo1のSircomだと思います。Merchant にとって初めての出演でしたが、人気者になり、Rickyとの番組制作を続ける傍ら、コメディーショーにも出演するようになりました。

Gervais plays Andy Millman, who desperately wants to become a famous actor but as yet has had no luck, partly due to very poor efforts by his agent Darren Lamb (Merchent). He works as a movie and TV ‘extra’, also known as ‘background artist’. Each time he works on a movie he tries hard to get to chat with the movie stars, hoping to get some help from them, but it always ends with him being fired, making the star angry. The ‘stars’ are always acted by real stars, such as Orlando Bloom, Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Daniel Radcliffe, Samuel L. Jackson, Kate Winslett, Patrick Stewart… and many more – showing Gervais’s power in the world of comedy. Each star appears as him/herself, though their dialogues are scripted.

Andy Millman（Ricky）は、スター俳優になることを夢みますが、エージェントDarren （Merchant）は彼を売り込もうと努力しません。映画やＴＶ番組のエキストラとして出演するたび、スターとのコネを目当てに熱心に話しかけ、スターを怒らせたり、解雇されてしまいます。このドラマでの‘スター’は、いつも大物俳優が彼ら自身の名前で出演しますが、台詞は、台本どおりです。これだけの俳優陣(英語欄をご覧ください)が出演するのは、Rickyのコメディー業界でのパワーを表しているのでしょう。

In series 2, Millman finds some success, getting to write and star in his own sitcom on BBC. Things don’t go well though, and his relationship with his best friend Maggie is damaged. The series ends with a very moving, and sometimes sad, ‘special’ episode.

シリーズ２で、Millmanは、BBCでのドラマ制作、出演という仕事を手にいれます。ついに成功を・・と思いきや、Maggieとの関係は崩れ、悲しさ、感動を含めた‘特別編’で、シリーズを終わります。

Here is a scene with Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller 出演のシーンです:

Here is a scene with Maggie and Orlando Bloom from Series 2

Orlando Bloom 出演のシーンです:

Here is a scene with Darren (Merchant)

Ricky とMerchantのシーンです: