Tag Archives: Ricky Gervais

Sweet Streams: Derek

Posted in Sweet Streams, TV by

derekOur category of “Sweet Streams” has never been more because this show is “sweet” both in the “sweet, brah” sense and in the “awww, how sweet”.  This show has been around on Netflix for a quite a while now and I am not sure how or why I went so long without watching, but in the course of two days, I recently watched both seasons.  When I told my mom that Ricky Gervais was in a show that was very sweet, she thought I was being sarcastic, but fans of Extras and The Office may not be as shocked.

Derek follows, you guessed it, Derek, played by Gervais, and his cohorts at the senior home where he works.  Derek is a little odd, but with a heart of gold, caring most for little animals and his friends.  Chief among those friends his Hannah, the manager of the home who has a lot on her hands trying to care for the residence, but more efforts seem to go towards wrangling Derek and his friend Kev.  Her big sisterly love for Derek is the real heart of the show.

If you, like me, sometimes crave a good cry, then this is the show for you.  Even if you ar not a crier, there is no way that this show won’t tug at your heart strings.  Its main message of surrounding yourself with good people who understand what is really important in life is touching.  Give it a watch.

Derek

– Ellen

Web Bytes: The Ricky Gervais Show

Posted in Web, Web Bytes by

Ricky+Gervais+Steven+Merchant+and+Karl+Pilkington+KarlPilkingtonStephenM0011Allow me give you, dear reader, a piece of life advice: If you are ever feeling down, plug in the headphones and give The Ricky Gervais Show a listen.  Now, I a know that this podcast originally aired back in 2005 or so and that this is hardly current or cutting edge advice, but  no matter.  I have now listened to all of the episodes several times and it still never fails to slay me with laughter every time.

The basic format is Ricky Gervais and his collaborator Stephen Merchant sitting in a room and picking the brain of their odd little idiot savant, Karl Pilkington.  He has the strangest life perspective and Merchant and Gervais spend the entire show making fun of him.  It sounds mean, and sometimes it is, but I still laugh.  The podcast has now expanded into TV Shows (the animated Ricky Gervais Show and Idiot Abroad), but I still like to go back to roots and give the old podcasts a listen.

This week, for example, has been completely wretched at work.  Yesterday one of the episodes came on during my a shuffle on my iPhone.  Within a few minutes, I was stifling laughter, albeit not very well because my co-worker finally had to ask what I found so funny.

If this flew under your radar, I highly suggest you get your hands on some episodes and give it a listen when you are having a bad day.  In the meantime, check out a clip of the animated show below.

– Ellen