The Ricky Gervais Show
Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant returned to XFM, the alternative London-based radio station in September 2001 after the first series of The Office had been broadcast. Due to the phenomenal success of the show, Ricky was important enough to now be given his own producer, one Karl Pilkington. Although Karl was hired to just "press the buttons", Ricky and Steve got him involved more and more with the show over the subsequent weeks and soon became fascinated with his personal life, unconventional childhood and ridiculous stories. By the end of the first season Karl had become a crucial part of the show's success.
The Moaning of Life Trailer
Despite being without his partners in comedy it looks like Karl Pilkington is back to his barmy best...
Karl Pilkington has recently turned 40 and is on a brand new adventure for Sky 1, The Moaning of Life. Sans Gervais and Merchant, the five-part documentary will see the spin-off star try and answer more of life's big questions. Following on from An Idiot Abroad 3, Karl continues down the travel route as he finds himself crossing the globe in another head-scratching adventure.
I've never worried about life's big questions. People at my age sit about pondering about 'why are we here?' The only time I ever asked meself that is when Suzanne booked us a surprise holiday to Lanzarote. Back to his usual best, the new snippet shows him don a pregnancy suit, carry a crying child while bleating: This is not for me. He also comments on a new feline friend: This cat's cross-eyed, I've never seen that before.
Fans of Karl will be pleased to know this all starts next month.
Click here to check out the trailer
Learn Guitar with David Brent
David Brent returns with his own YouTube Series 10 years on.
In 2001 David Brent strummed out the acoustic power-rock classic 'Freelove Freeway' on the training day episode of The Office. Suddenly he wasn't the only one to believe his rightful place on this earth was at the peak of the music world, rather than heading up a regional branch of a paper merchant. We also learned that Ricky Gervais' greatest creation (beyond Karl Pilkington) used to play in a band, Foregone Conclusion. Sadly, though, we never got to hear them in full flow and decide whether they deserved to have achieved more than playing on the 'same bill as Texas once'.
Ricky Gervais: New series of Derek
After a boat-rocking pilot last year, Ricky Gervais' Derek returned to Channel 4 with a full series this week.
Speaking ahead of the launch of Derek, Gervais said Derek was a return to the real values of The Office, his mockumentary set on the Slough Trading Estate. I've done a lot of media stuff with Extras and the Golden Globes and spoof things for Comic Relief, he said in the Making Of Derek video, released earlier this week. I sort of dealt in that, because it's irresistible to write about what you know. I worked in an office for ten years, I wrote about it. I was in the media, I wrote about it.
The Office had a pathos and there was a weight to it. There were three-dimensional characters. Derek is a return to those Office values. Real people, real problems, and more so. The Office touched on existentialism. But it touched on the existentialism of being 30. This touches on the existentialism of being 90 sometimes. So there's a bit more weight to that.
Learn English with Ricky Gervais
Thank you so much for making Learn English with Ricky Gervais the number 1 podcast in the world. It was downloaded over a million times in the first 24 hours. Fucking incredible. And thank you to iTunes for such a wonderful launch. Brilliant job. But most of all, thank you for the most amazing reaction I've ever had. iTunes have it exclusively for one week then we will post a clean version on YouTube so that people around the world can rip it, stick on their own language subtitles, and then re-post it.
Click here to watch the video...
When we have had 50 million views, we'll record a brand new one and start the whole process again. Deal?
In the time being why not help out with the YouTube translation project.Shortlist: Mr & Mrs Pilkington
Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington have spent the past 10 years antagonising each other. And this, they tell Tom Ellen of Shortlist magazine, is simply because they're the best of mates. Click here to check out their latest photo shoot.
Shortlist has also released an exclusive video featuring Ricky and Karl recreating the classic game show 'Mr & Mrs'. The Twenty-minute video shows Ricky trying to guess Karl's answers to basic questions such as what is your favourite book? Most die-hard fans will know the answers immediately, but this is a great excuse to revisit some classic K-man moments such as his interpretation of Eric Clapton's Wonderful tonight.
Click here to check out the video and see how many you can get...
The Ricky Gervais Show: HBO Season 2
The Ricky Gervais Show, animated comedy series based on the smash-hit podcast returns January 14th exclusively on HBO. The first episode of the new series kicks off with Karl's pitch for a movie starring the internationally renowned actor, Clive Warren.
A day in the life of Karl Pilkington
Ricky, Steve and Karl have recorded a special free podcast to thank fans for their support over the year. This is only the second full-length podcast they have recorded this year (not counting an exclusive podcast for allied troops serving overseas).
Over the past four years The Ricky Gervais Show has been downloaded 260 million times! It is the most downloaded show in history and number one in 16 countries.
Ricky Gervais: Trip to Spain Monkey News
Found this little gem on YouTube a few minutes ago...
And here we have the final part in my Monkey News trilogy. First of all a massive thank you to everyone whose subscribed and watched my work so far; I hope you can enjoy this last installment of monkey mayhem.
This one took a hell of a lot longer to produce since I now have a fulltime job which cobbles up all my time and energy. Still, I had a ball making this and may still produce some mini Karl stuff in the future, as well as complete original works. So please stay tuned!
For more animated monkey news make sure you check out Dan Morrison's YouTube channel.
Portal 2: Money for old rope
Valve has just confirmed that Steve Merchant will star in Portal 2 as the voice of Wheatley, the English-accented personality sphere.
Wheatley is a frantic person which is performed well by Merchant due to being able to relay information quickly in his speech. Merchant was chosen for the role both because the designers were fans of British comedy and because of Merchant's role in the TV series Extras and his podcasts. Merchant was sent a package of Portal 2 material along with a request that he provide the voice of Wheatley and Merchant agreed to accept the role. Wheatley's characterisation was always designed with a British voice in mind. While they were writing Wheatley's dialogue, they had Merchant in their heads as a result of watching Extras though at the time they did not consider pursuing him for the role because they did not think that they would be able to cast him. They were instead considering Richard Ayoade until they went to Merchant's agents.
Money for old rope as Steve has often said... Guess Karl didn't take the message for him this time.
New animated series promo
Ricky, Steve and Karl were interviewed by Channel 4 at the launch of The Ricky Gervais Show animated television series. During this short 10 minute promo they the discuss group dynamics, the education of Karl over last few years and reminisce about some of the old XFM features such as knob news, rock busters and monkey news. Well worth the download.
Guide to the world cup
The recently announced bonus podcast The Ricky Gervais Guide To The World Cup has just been released! Enjoy 45 minutes of Ricky, Steve and Karl very loosely discussing the international sporting event. It is the number one podcast in the world this week with over 2 million downloads.
The FAME Podcast
Just noticed that iTunes put up the Ricky Gervais FAME podcast a few days ago, free of charge. It was recorded on CD, given as a souvenir for everyone who attended his standup in 2007. So if you're up for 40 minutes of some more drivel with Karl, Ricky and Steve, then download the podcast directly from the podcast directory.