Happy Birthday, Ricky Gervais
As good as the American version of The Office is, the original British version was better. And as great as Steve Carell is, Ricky Gervais was better.
This show was genius, no more so than in this scene. Both hilarious and uncomfortable at the same time. Like watching ChrisApplewhite try to dunk a basketball. Like watching Doperbo try talk to a woman. Like watching Chooky try…you get the picture.
Enjoy.
June 25, 2008 at 9:39 am
Life is just a series of peaks and troughs. And you don’t know whether you’re in a trough until you’re climbing out, or on a peak until you’re coming down. And that’s it you know, you never know what’s round the corner. Er, but it’s all good, you know. “If you want the rainbow, you’ve gotta put up with the rain.” Do you know which ‘philosopher’ said that? Dolly Parton! And people say she’s just a big pair of tits.
June 27, 2008 at 6:37 am
You’re all looking at me, you’re going, “Well yeah, you’re a success, you’ve achieved you’re goals, you’re reaping the rewards, sure. But, OI, Brent. Is all you care about chasing the Yankee dollar?” Let me show you something I always keep with me. Just a little book, Collective Meditations, and it’s a collection of philosophers, writers, thinkers, native American wisdom, which I, and it’s really showing you that, er, the spiritual side needs as much care and attention as the physical side. It’s about feeding the soul, yeah? Evolving spirituality. And a foreword by Duncan Goodhew, so… Can I read one-which I think- “If all men were to bring their miseries together in one place, most would be glad to take each, his own, home again, rather than take a portion out of the common stock.” It’s saying, for the first time, you know, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, don’t look over your neighbour’s fence and go “ooh he’s got a better car than me, ooh, he’s got a more attractive wife.” We all wake up and we go “oh, I ache, I’m not 18 any more, you know, I’m thirty ni- you know, I’m in my thirties, I’m not-”, but so what, at least I’ve got my health. And if you haven’t got your health-if you’ve got one leg, at least I haven’t got two legs missing. And if you have lost both legs and both arms, just go “at least I’m not dead. I’d rather be dead in that situation, to be honest. I’m not saying people like that should be… you know, put down. I’m saying that, in my life, I’d rather not live without arms and legs because… I’m just getting into yoga, for one thing. So…
October 14, 2008 at 6:42 am
We rented the British Office DVD this summer after marathoning all of the American ones. Both great shows, but you’re right about Gervais in the lead. The quiet desperation of the British gives their version a different tone- they are not going to be moving on, they’re trapped in dreary Slough forever.
I cannot recall it verbatim, but Gervais’ short speech on how he is a life-on-the-edge rebel comes to mind:
What is it the rockers say? Live fast, die young, stay pretty. That’s pretty much me, you know. Livin’ fast. Don’t like the dying part so much, that’s what makes me a rebel, see.