DVD Review: The Ricky Gervais Show – The Complete 1st Season

RickyGervaisShow S1 e DVD Review: The Ricky Gervais Show   The Complete 1st Season 
The time has come when podcasts become tv shows!

This is what happened to the most downloaded podcast in history, The Ricky Gervais Show.  The podcast has three Brits talk about their daily lives: comedian Ricky Gervais (Office creator), Stephen Merchant and the weird but likeable, Karl Pilkington.  The 30 minute show talks about various subjects from Pilkington hating charities to the vicous dolphins.  The discussions are pretty pointless but that’s what makes it funny.  These guys could debate about a subject that no one really cares about for the whole show.  Pilkington is the glue of this show.  He’s the one with the crazy thoughts and he’s not afraid to let anybody know about it.  Merchant and Gervais is there to piss him off and plays devil’s advocate. 

Ricky Gervais Show 1 DVD Review: The Ricky Gervais Show   The Complete 1st Season

HBO picked up the podcast and decided to put animation behind the voices.  There’s not much animation, it’s mostly just the three guys in a booth.  I think HBO took a gamble with this project because the original recordings were funny and they hoped would find a bigger audience.  For me, it works.  It’s a good show to watch after work, especially if you just want to relax.  Some of the things they talk about is so out there that you can’t help but laugh. 

The first season has 13 episodes.
Grade: A

Video:
The show is presented in 1.85: 1, anamorphic widescreen.  The animation isn’t anything complex so this presentation gets the job done.  The colors are bright and there’s no artifacts.
Grade: A

rickygervais 2 DVD Review: The Ricky Gervais Show   The Complete 1st Season

Audio:
The sound is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1.  Some parts are too low to hear so you have to turn up the volume once in a while.  The original podcast was probably recorded like this but I just wished they calibrated the recording for tv viewers.  Besides the one issue, the track sounds clean and it’s more than presentable for this type of show
Grade: B

Extras:
The extras are on the second disc.  The first one is a look at the storyboard for episode 3.  The second one is a tv ad for the show.  I expected more extras for this set, like a behind the scenes look of the recordings or the thought process behind each show.  But then again, Gervais and company probably didn’t think the show would get picked up by HBO
Grade: C

Conclusion:
Ricky Gervais is the hot topic right now.  He hosted the Golden Globes last night and some people (mostly females) were offended by his jokes.  They thought he was crude and too honest towards his fellow celebs.  I found him to be really funny and made a normally boring show, interesting.  With this DVD, you’ll find the same humor.  The guys don’t pull any punches.  Sometimes it gets awkward when they get in a heated debate but rest assured they’re still good friends by the end of the show.

If you like his act at the Golden Globes, definitely get this show.  If you hated it, don’t waste your money…
Grade: A- (Not an average)

 

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