Sunday, July 15, 2012

The Ricky Gervais show ends "The Year" and the series

HBO's The Ricky Gervais Show brought its run to a close last night with "The Year." This season three finale will also serve as the series finale, as Gervais stops all current projects to concentrate on new ones. Among the topics of the final installment? Insects getting smarter, a trimmed mattress, cutting avocados, and the negatives of dating twins.

Dating twins, you say? Yes, Karl (Karl Pilkington) thinks it would be terrible to date twins, no matter how attractive they might be. He is of the opinion that if a bloke is lucky enough to get two of something, he is going to want two different versions, not two of the same. He compares them to cars.

Yes, that is absolutely ludicrous, and not something any normal person would ever think about. But then, Karl is far from a normal person, as fans of the podcast and animated series have come to learn. Karl is the type of guy who won't eat avocados not because he doesn't like them, but because they are too difficult to cut up. He just doesn't look at the world the same way as the rest of us.

This may be most evident in "The Year" when Karl speaks of insects. He noticed a grub eat a crumb of his biscuit, and has decided that modern bugs have gotten a taste for modern food. Somehow, he doesn't even consider that these are simple creatures acting on instinct. He assumes they must think like us, and enjoy a certain taste. Ricky (Ricky Gervais) and Stephen (Stephen Merchant) are completely flabbergasted at this, knowing just how obviously wrong Karl is, but also realizing they will never convince him of that.

That is the beauty of Karl Pilkington. He is one of the few truly unique individuals out there, and he has thoughts most of us will never have. That is why it has been such a pleasure to watch him these past few years.

There is little wonder where Karl gets it from after hearing that his father trimmed down a mattress to fit between two cabinets. He actually took a saw and cut several inches of the bed off, repairing it with staples and tape. Who would do such a thing? Ruin a perfectly good sleeping surface? Well, the Pilkingtons, apparently.

At the end of "The Year," the guys talk about having these same type of discussions as old geezers in a retirement home. They probably will. Sadly, The Ricky Gervais Show has been brought to an end though, neglecting to finish animating the other recorded podcasts, let alone any future conversations. There's something to be said about going out on top, while a series is still relevant. But sometimes it must be wondered if Gervais doesn't pull the plugs on projects before they should be, as one could easily imagine several more entertaining years of this program.

Alas, as this will not be the case, all we can do is thank the gentlemen for their time and insights. And buy the DVDs so the existing episodes, thirty-nine in number, can be enjoyed over and over again.

Check out my new website, JeromeWetzel.com. If you like my reviews, please follow me on Twitter! Article first published as Ricky Gervais show ends "The Year" and the series on TheTVKing.com

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