Brian Damage
05-20-2011, 07:27 PM
Ricky Gervais — who is no stranger to saying exactly what’s on his mind (See: 2011 Golden Globes) — took to his blog Friday to weigh in on The Office‘s guest star-studded finale, drudging up sternly worded (if somewhat ironic) allegations.
“If you’re going to jump a shark, jump a big one,” wrote Gervais, who himself made a cameo as his U.K. Office character, David Brent.
Of course, one could argue that The Office jumped the shark long earlier in its seven-year run (e.g. Dunder Mifflin being bought out by Sabre; Jim and Pam getting married; The Halpert baby) — but that’s beside the point.
“Still, we’ve a had a good innings,” Gervais added, employing a British idiom meaning “a long and successful period of time in a job.”
The actor/comedian’s stream of consciousness-style entry opined that the long-running NBC series’ season-ender served up cameos for cameos’ sake, rather than advancing the storyline of a Michael Scott-less Dunder Mifflin (which, in my opinion, couldn’t be more true).
“Don’t get me wrong,” he said, “I’m very proud of the US version. It was not only a very, very good network comedy, but it was also a massive success story. But you know, I did [the original U.K. version of The Office] for different reasons, ambitions and with slightly different emotional attachments to the project.
“I did my version for the art,” he said. “That’s why I stopped it after a few hours [14 episodes] of telly.”
As for anyone who genuinely thought David Brent was actually a genuine contender to replace Steve Carell’s Office boss, Gervais had this message: “Once and for all… I would never ever in a million years take a permanent role in the show as an actor.
“It really would be f–king mental,” he added. “You don’t start a company to work on reception.”
http://www.tvline.com/2011/05/ricky-gervais-office-finale-jumped-shark/
“If you’re going to jump a shark, jump a big one,” wrote Gervais, who himself made a cameo as his U.K. Office character, David Brent.
Of course, one could argue that The Office jumped the shark long earlier in its seven-year run (e.g. Dunder Mifflin being bought out by Sabre; Jim and Pam getting married; The Halpert baby) — but that’s beside the point.
“Still, we’ve a had a good innings,” Gervais added, employing a British idiom meaning “a long and successful period of time in a job.”
The actor/comedian’s stream of consciousness-style entry opined that the long-running NBC series’ season-ender served up cameos for cameos’ sake, rather than advancing the storyline of a Michael Scott-less Dunder Mifflin (which, in my opinion, couldn’t be more true).
“Don’t get me wrong,” he said, “I’m very proud of the US version. It was not only a very, very good network comedy, but it was also a massive success story. But you know, I did [the original U.K. version of The Office] for different reasons, ambitions and with slightly different emotional attachments to the project.
“I did my version for the art,” he said. “That’s why I stopped it after a few hours [14 episodes] of telly.”
As for anyone who genuinely thought David Brent was actually a genuine contender to replace Steve Carell’s Office boss, Gervais had this message: “Once and for all… I would never ever in a million years take a permanent role in the show as an actor.
“It really would be f–king mental,” he added. “You don’t start a company to work on reception.”
http://www.tvline.com/2011/05/ricky-gervais-office-finale-jumped-shark/