The Ricky Gervais Show - "Clive Warren"

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     This past Friday, season two of The Ricky Gervais Show premiered on HBO. Like each episode of season one, it was the wandering musings of three mean recorded for a podcast, and then animated. However, this episode had a more centralized conversation than most. The topic? A movie Karl Pilkington thought up.

     If you've never seen the show (or heard the podcast), you may not know who Karl Pilkington is. If this is the case, it is a very sad state you're in, that should be corrected immediately. Karl Pilkington is a man who does not think like you or I or most people. A truly unique individual, he seems to reside in a world all of his own.

     This week, Karl recounted how studio execs asked him for a movie idea. He said he came up with one off the top of his head, as your brain works best if you just start talking and see what comes out. His 'brilliant' pitch would star Clive Warren. Never heard of him? That's because he doesn't exist. Karl meant Clive Owen. The plot involved Clive dying, and then having half of his brain put into his wife's head, because 'that's what doctors are doin' nowadays'.

     Insane? Possibly. Genius? Equally likely. Not the movie idea, of course, but the comedy of it all. I doubt more than a handful of writers in the world could write this funny. Karl read something on the internet about brain transplants, which, of course, he assumed was fact, and ran with it. Also, the first thing he decided on for the movie was not the story, but the actors who would star. Of course, duh! That's how you sell movies any more, right?

     Karl's thoughts may be the musings of an unstable individual, but he doesn't seem dangerous. Just naive and amusing. You'll find yourself laughing out loud at the show. Luckily, Karl never seems offended when his co-hosts, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, do just that. They're not cruel; just fascinated with the man. And now I am, too.

     The first season of The Ricky Gervais Show is now available on DVD, and new episodes air Friday nights on HBO.

Article first published as DVD Review: The Ricky Gervais Show: The Complete First Season on Blogcritics.