The Ricky Gervais Show (animated series)
Encyclopedia
The Ricky Gervais Show is an American cartoon series
produced for and broadcast by HBO. The series is an animated version of the popular British audio podcast
s and audiobooks of the same name
, which feature Ricky Gervais
and Stephen Merchant
(creators of The Office
and Extras), along with colleague and friend Karl Pilkington
, talking about various subjects behind the microphone. The TV show consists of past audio recordings of these unscripted "pointless conversations," with animation drawn in a style similar to classic era Hanna-Barbera
cartoons, presenting jokes and situations in a literal context.
The animated Ricky Gervais Show has aired 26 episodes across two seasons since it premiered in 2010. HBO has commissioned a third season, and there are some plans for a possible fourth season as well, which would use newly recorded audio.
was broadcast in 2001, creators Ricky Gervais
and Stephen Merchant
returned to local radio station XFM London
, where they used to host their own radio show. For this revival of The Ricky Gervais Show
, Karl Pilkington
worked as radio producer, and steadily became a more and more important part of the show. After years of the three doing the radio show, in 2005, they started doing a series of free podcast
s, and later paid audiobooks, available to download on the Internet. The Show consistently ranks as the number one podcast in the world, achieving the Guinness World Record
for the most downloaded podcast ever in 2007, and has been downloaded over 300 million times .
Discussions about the animated series began in 2008; Gervais first mentioned the project on his blog in November 2008. Earlier collaborations with HBO include the co-production of the Gervais/Merchant series Extras together with the BBC
, as well as Gervais's Out of England stand-up comedy
special. The first preview clip of the series was shown on Late Show with David Letterman
, in November 2009.
, and its counterpart, E4.
The first season was released on region
2 DVD on July 19, 2010. The region 1 (North American) DVD was released on January 4, 2011. Extras on the region 1 release include a short piece of animation created for the Channel 4 Comedy Gala, and the storyboard
version of episode 3, "Charity", showing what the animation looks in the middle of production. The region 2 DVD contains all these, along with a number of videos where the three friends chat, as well as original HBO commercials and trailers for the show.
Cartoon series
A cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same characters and a basic theme...
produced for and broadcast by HBO. The series is an animated version of the popular British audio podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
s and audiobooks of the same name
The Ricky Gervais Show
The Ricky Gervais Show is a comedy audio show in the UK starring Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington, later adapted into an animated televised version debuting for HBO and Channel 4 in 2010. The show started in November 2001 on Xfm, and aired in weekly periods for months at a time...
, which feature Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
and Stephen Merchant
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the...
(creators of The Office
The Office (UK TV series)
The Office is a British sitcom television series that was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme is about the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictitious...
and Extras), along with colleague and friend Karl Pilkington
Karl Pilkington
Karl Pilkington is a British podcaster, author, television personality and former radio producer. He is best known for the Sky travel series, An Idiot Abroad, which was also presented in the United States on the Science Channel, in Canada on Discovery Channel and in Australia on One HD, and The...
, talking about various subjects behind the microphone. The TV show consists of past audio recordings of these unscripted "pointless conversations," with animation drawn in a style similar to classic era Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
cartoons, presenting jokes and situations in a literal context.
The animated Ricky Gervais Show has aired 26 episodes across two seasons since it premiered in 2010. HBO has commissioned a third season, and there are some plans for a possible fourth season as well, which would use newly recorded audio.
History
After the first season of The OfficeThe Office (UK TV series)
The Office is a British sitcom television series that was first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 9 July 2001. Created, written, and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the programme is about the day-to-day lives of office employees in the Slough branch of the fictitious...
was broadcast in 2001, creators Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais
Ricky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
and Stephen Merchant
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the...
returned to local radio station XFM London
Xfm London
Xfm London is a commercial radio station in the United Kingdom owned by Global Radio and broadcasts on 104.9 FM in London, on digital radio via 30 DAB multiplexes across the country, Sky, TalkTalk TV and Virgin Media....
, where they used to host their own radio show. For this revival of The Ricky Gervais Show
The Ricky Gervais Show
The Ricky Gervais Show is a comedy audio show in the UK starring Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington, later adapted into an animated televised version debuting for HBO and Channel 4 in 2010. The show started in November 2001 on Xfm, and aired in weekly periods for months at a time...
, Karl Pilkington
Karl Pilkington
Karl Pilkington is a British podcaster, author, television personality and former radio producer. He is best known for the Sky travel series, An Idiot Abroad, which was also presented in the United States on the Science Channel, in Canada on Discovery Channel and in Australia on One HD, and The...
worked as radio producer, and steadily became a more and more important part of the show. After years of the three doing the radio show, in 2005, they started doing a series of free podcast
Podcast
A podcast is a series of digital media files that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication...
s, and later paid audiobooks, available to download on the Internet. The Show consistently ranks as the number one podcast in the world, achieving the Guinness World Record
Guinness World Records
Guinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing a collection of world records, both human achievements and the extremes of the natural world...
for the most downloaded podcast ever in 2007, and has been downloaded over 300 million times .
Discussions about the animated series began in 2008; Gervais first mentioned the project on his blog in November 2008. Earlier collaborations with HBO include the co-production of the Gervais/Merchant series Extras together with the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, as well as Gervais's Out of England stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
special. The first preview clip of the series was shown on Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman
Late Show with David Letterman is a U.S. late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and is produced by Letterman's production company, Worldwide Pants Incorporated. The show's music director and band-leader of the house band, the CBS Orchestra, is...
, in November 2009.
Broadcast and distribution
Each season of The Ricky Gervais Show consists of 13 episodes. The series premiered in the United States on February 19, 2010, on HBO. The second season started on January 14, 2011. In the United Kingdom, The Ricky Gervais Show is shown on Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
, and its counterpart, E4.
The first season was released on region
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
2 DVD on July 19, 2010. The region 1 (North American) DVD was released on January 4, 2011. Extras on the region 1 release include a short piece of animation created for the Channel 4 Comedy Gala, and the storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
version of episode 3, "Charity", showing what the animation looks in the middle of production. The region 2 DVD contains all these, along with a number of videos where the three friends chat, as well as original HBO commercials and trailers for the show.
See also
- The Ricky Gervais ShowThe Ricky Gervais ShowThe Ricky Gervais Show is a comedy audio show in the UK starring Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Karl Pilkington, later adapted into an animated televised version debuting for HBO and Channel 4 in 2010. The show started in November 2001 on Xfm, and aired in weekly periods for months at a time...
– The podcast and audio book series that the TV show is based on - List of The Ricky Gervais Show (animated series) episodes – The episodes of the cartoon series
- An Idiot AbroadAn Idiot AbroadAn Idiot Abroad is a travel documentary television series broadcast on Sky1, as well as a spin-off book published by Canongate Books, created by and featuring Karl Pilkington and his former radio show colleagues Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant....
– A travel documentaryTravel documentaryA travel documentary is a documentary film or television program that describes travel in general or tourist attractions in a non-commercial way....
series in which GervaisRicky GervaisRicky Dene Gervais is an English comedian, actor, director, radio presenter, producer, musician, and writer.Gervais achieved mainstream fame with his television series The Office and the subsequent series Extras, both of which he co-wrote and co-directed with friend and frequent collaborator...
and MerchantStephen MerchantStephen James Merchant is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the...
send PilkingtonKarl PilkingtonKarl Pilkington is a British podcaster, author, television personality and former radio producer. He is best known for the Sky travel series, An Idiot Abroad, which was also presented in the United States on the Science Channel, in Canada on Discovery Channel and in Australia on One HD, and The...
to various places around the world