The Ricky Gervais Show: The Complete First Season – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews

Long before Ricky Gervais was pissing off celebrities at the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards, he was making a name for himself writing and starring in the original British version of The Office, and Extras, as well as creating the American version of The Office with Steve Carrel playing the part Gervais originated. Also since 2001, Ricky Gervais, his colleague Stephen Merchant, and good friend Karl Pilkington have been performing on XM radio and producing their own podcasts, discussing virtually anything the three can think of. Starting in 2010, the trio began starring in an animated series based off of their podcasts, called The Ricky Gervais Show. The Ricky Gervais Show is currently in its second season on HBO, but thanks to Warner Home Video, the complete first season is now available to enjoy on DVD.

The Ricky Gervais Show takes the podcasts of Gervais, Pilkington, and Merchant, and transforms them into a thirty minute long animated program. The three men are shown in their recording booth primarily, with their microphones, talking to one another as animated characters. As the show goes on, the jokes are transformed into literal animations. For example, if Gervais talks about a six-foot cockroach acting as a janitor, a six-foot tall cockroach dressed in a janitor’s outfit pops onto the screen, cleaning up trash at a dumpster. There is some continuity throughout the 13 episodes of season one, but that only in references to prior shows (meaning a viewer can watch episode 5 or 13 and still enjoy themselves), but this series has no set storyline with a beginning, middle, and end. Instead, the three men seem to talk about anything that pops into their heads.

Each show usually comes down to the same thing: Gervais and Merchant ask Pilkington questions, to which Pilkington answers absurdly, and hysterically. Pilkington is always the one who is made fun of, mostly by Gervais, but he always comes off as the star of the show. What makes Pilkington so funny is that he takes questions literally, and will always answer honestly, truthfully, and thoughtfully, giving the same weight of importance to every question asked of him. Pilkington is philosophical in his own right, and constantly talks of changing the world and doing something more important than this television show/podcast. He is the most consistently interesting and hilarious character in the show, and the banter between the know-it-all Gervais and the down-to-earth Pilkington is hysterical.

There are two features brought in throughout the season, and both revolve around Pilkington. The first is entitled “Monkey News”. This special consists of Karl Pilkington telling a ridiculous story (that he claims he found “in the news” somewhere) that features a monkey doing something heroic or otherwise human, such as saving people from a burning building, being a carpenter on a skyscraper, or being a winning horse jockey for the mafia. The only complaint I have with Monkey News is that it ends one episode shy of the finale, and will not be present for season two. The stories that Karl creates are absurd, creative, hilarious, and always worth the viewer’s time.

The second feature is introduced later in the season, but is equally as funny. Karl decides to start writing a diary while he is on vacation one week, and happens to bring it into the recording studio. Stephen Merchant reads from it, finds the information that Karl has decided to write down fascinating and scary, and a new feature is born. “Karl’s Diary” is just as good as Monkey News. Each week, Merchant will read from Karl’s diary, (and the animations will mimic what Merchant is reading), and he and Gervais will mock and comment on everything Karl writes down. As with Monkey News, the stories that come from these are incredibly creative, and make for a great few minutes on each show.

Once I realized that this show was simply three Brits recording a podcast, I was turned off from the DVD. It only took one episode for me to realize my inhibitions were unfounded, and the three gentlemen of The Ricky Gervais Show sucked me in. The big question then was if the show could sustain a level of enjoyment for 13 episodes. Thanks to mainly the fresh approach that Karl brings to each show, and the fact that the three men will talk about anything, from storing babies inside 78-year-old people, to Cher in Moscow being interviewed by a monkey, the show never gets stale. Some may tire of Ricky Gervais’ constant negative attitude, specifically toward Karl, or the “know-it-all” nature of Stephen Merchant, but even so, the funniest moments in the show are too good to pass up.

The character design by Andi Bialk won an Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation Emmy Award, and rightfully so: all the animation in the series looks great. It has a very specific art style that sustains throughout the entire season, and works perfectly with the comedy that is being spoken, helping add to the jokes instead of being frivolous.

There is never a dull moment through season one of The Ricky Gervais Show. The real reason to watch is Karl Pilkington, just to see what insane story he will come up with next. The banter between the three characters flows naturally, and though mean-spirited at times, never gets to be too much. Stephen Merchant acts as the mediator between Karl and Ricky at times, and this helps to offset the negative “Gervaisisms”. Excepting the easily offended, there is something for just about everyone in season one of The Ricky Gervais Show. Fans of Gervais’ other television shows will be right at home with this season, and anyone looking for quality animation work with a consistently hilarious audio track will also enjoy The Ricky Gervais Show: The Complete First Season.

The animation looks great all-around, especially on a HDTV. The colors pop really well, and the character style is fantastic. Karl’s head, which is constantly referred to as being perfectly round, looks exactly as one would expect him too, as do the other characters. Each has their own unique characteristics in their animated character, matching their on-air personalities. The DVD is presented in a “matted” widescreen format, and is enhanced for widescreen TVs. No aspect ratio is listed on the DVD, but Amazon notes it as 1.33:1. There are no problems with the audio side on the DVD either, as it contains (almost) exclusively the audio track from the original podcast. No dialogue ever gets lost throughout the season, and it is presented in a 5.1 Dolby Surround option. There are French and English SDH subtitle options.

Channel 4 Comedy Gala Animation (1:31): Very short sequence that talks about a charity event. Karl doesn’t understand why this event is good for the children, and Ricky and Stephen try to explain it to him. This is just as funny as the rest of the season, but incredibly short.

Episode Storyboard (23:46): This is the animation storyboard for episode 103 (which is the third episode on the disc). Instead of playing the full color and finished animations of the episode, this shows the original pictures from the storyboard phase of the design process. These are all in black and white, and the feature is pointless. Only those interested in the process of designing an episode will find anything of importance here. Otherwise, this is a subpar special feature.

Those who are familiar with Ricky Gervais will know what type of comedy to expect coming in to The Ricky Gervais Show. Anyone else can look forward to dialogue-based humor that has the tendency to turn dry and sarcastic at points. Karl Pilkington is worthy of his own show, and Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais are simply the icing on the cake. The problem with this DVD release, though, is the upsetting lack of special features. With almost a decades worth of radio and podcast recordings available from these three men, one would hope to see a lot more than a lackluster storyboard episode, and a 90-second short sequence as special features. The 13 episodes come out to over 300 minutes worth of footage, however, which should be enough to justify a purchase for any fan of Ricky Gervais. Others may want to download the podcast before pulling the trigger on the DVD release so he or she can get a glimpse at the type of humor to be found on the 13 episodes contained on these two discs.


Warner Home Video presents The Ricky Gervais Show: The Complete First Season. Directed by: Craig Kellman. Starring: Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington. Written by: Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington. Running time: 317 minutes. Rating: Not Rated. Released on DVD: January 4, 2011.

Branden Chowen is, first and foremost, an actor. He is in his final year of graduate school, where he will (hopefully) soon receive an MFA in acting to compliment his BFA in the art. He spends his free time watching and reviewing movies for Inside Pulse Movies, and We Love Cult. He is also one of the co-hosts for The Drive-In, which is the official podcast of Inside Pulse Movies. He is an avid horror fan, and will spend time watching just about any horror movie that looks interesting. You can contact Branden by email at bchowen[AT]insidepulse[DOT]com, or follow him on Twitter @Psymin1.