Extras: Season 2

Once in a great while a man really has a chance to shine. This is not that man. You will roar with laughter watching the entire 2nd season of the BAFTA® Award-winning comedy series starring Ricky Gervais (The Office). Gervais inhabits the role of Andy Millman, an out-of-work actor who never forgets his lines-because he never gets any. Watch and howl as Andy desperately tries to make his mark on the big screen along with his useless agent (Stephen Merchant, The Office). Co-stars Ashley Jensen (Maggie Jacobs, EastEnders, Ugly Betty). As seen on HBO. "More than funny...brilliant comedy"-Los Angeles Daily News. "Cunningly funny, with sparkling guest stars"- The Washington Post.

Episode 7 - Maggie gets a background part as a juror in a ridiculous courtroom drama, which stars Orlando Bloom as a handsome barrister. Watching the actor get accosted by female fans, Maggie sympathizes. "Must be exhausting...especially 'cause they're just doing it cause you're famous." Orlando insists his good looks are the draw, then carries on about how much more popular he is than Johnny Depp. Maggie doesn't buy it.

A jittery Andy calls Maggie from the set of his sitcom, which was picked up and dumbed down by the network. His agent tries to assure him that "crass, lowest common denominator" comedy gets the biggest ratings. When a lead actor drops out, claiming the show is "too broad," the network replaces him with a daft TV presenter, sending Andy over the edge.

Back on the courtroom set, Maggie runs into a former extra who gloats about getting "plucked from the cesspool" - she landed an acting part. She attempts to fix up Maggie and get her a bit part ("she's desperate for anything"), only to inform her she's not good looking enough for either. Orlando interrupts them, still determined to win Maggie over, and begs her for a kiss. "If it's going to shut you up," Maggie says giving in, as the gloating "actress" looks on.

On the brink of shooting his sitcom, Andy threatens to walk off the set. "I don't want to be on TV for the sake of it...I'll hate myself for the rest of my life," he tells the BBC execs. Realizing he could end up like Barry - who's pockets are spilling out with stolen candy from craft services - he decides to suck it up and go through with it...wig, oversized glasses, catchphrase and all.

Episode 8 - The reviews are in for Andy's new sitcom, and they're unanimous: "Worst sitcom of all time," exclaims one. "Miserable wretches dying slowly," surmises another. "Makes you want to gouge out your own eyes rather than watch one more minute," weighs in a third.

To make matters worse, he's starting to get recognized by the rabble -- drunken blokes straight out of "The Hills Have Eyes," hostile self-declared critics, and even a homeless guy who seems likely to tell the world about Andy's begrudging charity.

Just when he finally gets a little respect - entrance into the VIP section of a hip lounge - Andy's ushered back out the second David Bowie arrives. After bribing his way back in, he manages to get the ear of the music legend, only to inspire him to break into spontaneous song about Andy's pathetic life:

"The little man who sold his soul...sold his dreams
The clown that no one laughs at...
He sold his soul for a shot of fame
Catchphrase and wig and the jokes are lame
He's got no style and he's got no grace
He's banal and facile...
The little fat man with the pug nose..."

With his smug archrival joining in on the chorus, Andy beats a hasty retreat from the club...the sodden fans at his local suddenly don't seem so bad.

Episode 9 - In spite of his feckless agent, Andy is offered a speaking part in a Daniel Radcliffe film. He also lands Maggie some extra work - and an eager young suitor, Harry Potter himself. Dressed in a Scout's uniform for his latest role, the actor comes on strong, telling Maggie he's "done it with a girl, intercourse-wise," before his mother interrupts and drags him off. Returning later to close the deal, Daniel shows Andy the super-sized condom he's unrolled for the occasion, then accidentally flings it onto the head of Dame Diana Riggs.

To celebrate his new status as a film star, Andy takes Maggie to a high-end restaurant, where he complains about the loud noises coming from a kid behind them - unaware that the boy has Down's syndrome. The media has a field day, and soon Andy is being accused of attacking the boy and punching his mother. To offset the damage, he buys him an X-Box and stages a photo op on the set of his sitcom, and all is forgiven.

But when he returns to the film set, Andy is attacked by a short-statured actor (Maggie had passed along Andy's interest in the man's tall, hot fiancée). Defending himself against the knee-high onslaught, Andy accidentally kicks the actor in the face and knocks him out. Not surprisingly, the next day's papers run with something other than the X box angle: "TV Bully Kicks Dwarf in the Face".

Episode 10 - Andy tapes his first celebrity public service announcement - for clean drinking water in Africa - and meets an actual celebrity: Chris Martin. The Coldplay crooner has a few ideas for how to promote his album through the PSA, like maybe the third world children could be holding copies of it? Spotting Andy, Martin asks about the size of his sitcom audience, then suggests he should make an appearance. "What would Chris Martin be doing visiting a factory in Wigan?" Andy asks, horrified at the prospect. "You can work it out," Martin tells him.

As it turns out, the rock star is "popping by" the factory to promote his latest album, and the workers on 'When the Whistle Blows' beg him to perform a song - which he does as the factory suddenly converts into a fully-lit concert venue. Andy cringes from the sidelines.

As he predicted, the TV critics aren't kind, claiming his show has sunk even lower. His agent does have some good news, however: Andy's been nominated for a comedy BAFTA, and the entries "are all crap this year," so he might even have a chance. Even more baffling: a toy company wants to put out a doll of his sitcom character for the holidays.

Andy decides to take Maggie as his date to the BAFTAs, where he runs into an ex-girlfriend, "the most boring woman in the world." After taunting him for more details about his past, Maggie learns he lost his virginity to a "woman who looked like Ronnie Corbett" when he was 28 years old.

During the "in memoriam" tribute, Andy's agent arrives with his doll prototype, and accidentally sets off its catchphrase. As the doll squawks "Are you having a laugh?" repeatedly, the speaker loses it, steps down off the stage and decapitates the doll. Then he smashes it into silence with his foot - to a standing ovation.

Maggie leaves for the powder room, where she runs into Andy's ex and spills his pathetic virginity story. She then asks the woman how she responded when Andy dumped her "because she was boring." This comes as news to the ex, who starts to cry.

Over in the men's room, Andy's agent invites him into a stall, where he's doing lines with Ronnie Corbett himself. Before Andy can extricate himself, the three are caught by the BAFTA organizers, who ban them from attending or winning all future awards - except for the Welsh BAFTAs.

Back at his table, Andy decides his night couldn't get worse. But his ex has just won a BAFTA, and she's had a few drinks since the powder room. She takes to the mic and skips the thank yous: "I'd just like to say to Andy Millman: I may be boring, but at least I didn't lose my virginity when I was 28 to a woman who looked like Ronnie Corbett. Prick!"

Episode 11 - With the critics still dumping on his sitcom, Andy begs Darren (his agent) to find him something that will earn him some respect, like theater. Thanks to another client, Barry, Darren hears about a play Ian McKellen is directing, and lands Andy an audition.

On the set of 'When the Whistle Blows,' Andy gets a surprise visit from an old classmate, Steve Sherwood, the "coolest kid in school." Now a ruggedly handsome grownup, Sherwood tells Maggie and Darren they always thought Andy was gay in school, and the two do nothing to dispel the theory.

Andy is excited for his audition with Ian McKellen - until he learns that the character who plays his lover, Fran, is actually a guy. "Gay is all the rage," Darren assures him, convincing him it will show his range and anoint him a serious actor.

On opening night, Sherwood shows up with a few manly blokes from his schooldays, Boss Hogg, Nobby and Gut Rot. Andy tries to discourage them from buying tickets, but it's too late. Just before the curtains open, McKellen tells Andy he and Fran have been talking, and they think the play should end with a kiss. Andy tells him he has cold sores and that a kiss will be "too obvious."

But during the last act of the play, Fran goes in for the big lip-lock. Spotting the school blokes wincing in the audience, Andy stiff arms his costar and backs all the way to the wings of the stage, where a hand forces him back onstage. "Not gonna happen," he yells before turning to McKellen, the hand behind the curtains. "It's like 'Deliverance' in here!" Suddenly remembering the audience, Andy turns to face them, and makes a vain effort to explain himself - and the rest of the play. "That's gonna be bad isn't it," he says when he sees a critic scribbling. "You having a laugh? Is she having a laugh?"

Episode 12 - On the talk show circuit, Jonathan Ross asks Andy if there's anyone he'd die to work with, and Andy picks Robert De Niro. "Challenge accepted," the host says, claiming he can hook Andy up with the legend. In the Green Room, the mother of a sick boy railroads Andy into visiting her son in the hospital. Standing nearby Actor Robert Lindsay takes offense at not being asked, deciding the woman must've been too intimidated.

Maggie is excited to go home with her handsome new date...until she discovers he still lives with his parents. His mother interrupts her bridge game to warn Maggie not to be "a prick tease." "You look like you know your way around," his father adds.

When she tries to tell Andy about her horrific date, he has no time to hear it -- he's too busy working and hanging out with his new famous buddy, Jonathan Ross, who's invited him to ride in his convertible, play with his robot toys and loll around his estate.

After another frustrating conversation with his agent, Andy tells is fed up: if Darren can't get a meeting with De Niro before Andy does, he's fired.

Andy finally makes time to see Maggie, inviting her to join him for the dreaded hospital visit. After several awkward minutes, they're grateful when Robert Lindsay stops by, breaking into a song and dance number to convince everyone he's a bigger catch. When the boy nods off mid-sashay, Lindsay throws a stuffed bear at him.

After Andy fires his agent (he catches him masturbating over a nudie pen in his office), he learns the clown finally pulled through: he's arranged a meeting with De Niro at his London hotel. Andy calls Maggie en route to tell her why he won't be joining her at the hospital for their follow-up visit. When she asks if he can reschedule, he yells at her and hangs up. She sends a text apologizing and wishing him luck.

As Darren tries to entertain a bored Mr. De Niro ("have you ever driven a taxi in real life?"), Andy reads over Maggie's message, and asks his cabby to change course. Arriving at the hospital, he ends up fighting with Maggie for making him feel guilty, then admits his career was in the toilet anyhow. As they settle into a game with the boy, Andy's agent calls to tell him he and De Niro are heading to a pub -- it turns out he won the actor over with the nudie pen -- and Andy asks Maggie to go along with him.

As they make their way to the big encounter, Maggie asks Andy whether he'd rather die a lonely, bitter old man in a cold flat or - in five years time - if neither of them is with anyone...move in with each other.

Written by Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
Directed by Ricky Gervais
Produced by Charlie Hanson
Executive Producer by Jon Plowman

BAFTA® Awards
2007 - Best Comedy Performance - Ricky Gervais
British Comedy Awards®
2006 - Best TV Comedy Actor - Stephen Merchant
2005 - Best Comedy Newcomer - Ashley Jensen
2005 - Best TV Comedy Actress - Ashley Jensen
Emmy Awards ®
2007 - Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series - Ricky Gervais
Golden Globes®
2008 - Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy

• Gervais planning Extras one-off