An Open Letter To Ricky Gervais
Dear Mr. Gervais,
I understand you turned down a chance to work in Woody Allen’s next movie, saying “Woody Allen isn’t Woody Allen anymore.”
Hey, you’ll get no argument here. Woody Allen hasn’t had a good movie since 1994 — a great one since 1985. On the other hand, shut the fuck up. This is still Woody Allen. Y’know, Bananas, Take The Money And Run, Sleeper, Annie Hall, Manhattan, Purple Rose of Cairo. Does he really have to do another thing?
And I’m sorry, am I missing something? Aren’t you the same guy who agreed to appear in Night at the Museum? Based on that, should some up and coming comic ignore the genius and hilarity of your work on The Office and Extras? Oh, yes, Ricky just isn’t Ricky anymore.
There’s no doubt that something has gone very wrong with Mr. Allen. And there’s no reason you should suffer through his latest Brit-fetish script, but, come on, you’re English. How about a little tight-lipped discretion? Unless you were making a joke? Y’know, one of those cringe-comedy things you excel at? Because, you’re right, it is almost laughably uncomfortable that a guy who’s generated two excellent sitcoms would feel the need to shit on a 70-year-old comedy legend who’s written books, plays, stand-up, and five of the greatest movie comedies in the history of cinema.
Good one, Ricky. You still got it.
November 19th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
YES!
You know, when I was at school The Office was huge, and my two best friends were huge fans, trying to tell me how great it was. Even though Ricky Gervais is a fat, sleazy, smirking, pathetic excuse for a human being.
November 19th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Well, I still love The Office and Extras and I do think he’s very talented, but geez, Woody Allen, ya gotta show your respect.
November 19th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
I don’t doubt he’s got talent, the fact is he’s such a reprehensible human being that he’s unlikeable to me.
November 19th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
yeah, I heard this was not unusual behavior for him but i’d never heard anything like that before. Before this, i thought he was a humble guy.
November 19th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
The song RG wrote for the Simpsons was great. Not Deconstructing Harry great, but great.
November 19th, 2007 at 4:56 pm
Sheesh! I thought that was Tracey Ullman. I kept thinking, what does this post have to do with Tracey Ullman? Then I realized it was Scarlett Johansen’s body with Ricky Gervais’ face. The moral? Tracey Ullman looks like Scarlett Johansen’s head with Ricky Gervais’ face superimposed on it.
November 19th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Gee, I hope you stopped masturbating in time.
November 19th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Woody Allen has always been to self-indulgent. That being said, Ricky Gervais is lame too.
November 19th, 2007 at 9:14 pm
Well just because Woody Allen used to be funny doesn’t mean that Ricky Gervais can’t call him on his shit now. That’s like saying you can’t call Britney Spears ugly and stupid because she used to be hot and stupid.
And yeah, Woody Allen used to be funny, so no, it’s not like he needs to make another amazing movie to prove himself or anything. But he also shouldn’t make crap. Having previously made good films does not give you permission to continue making crappy films.
Otherwise nobody would be able to make fun of the Nutty Professor movies.
November 20th, 2007 at 1:12 am
Match Point is a good movie…
November 20th, 2007 at 5:18 am
Woody hasnt been woody since he fucked his daughter.
End of story really.
November 20th, 2007 at 7:25 am
OMG there are a lot of moronic replies on here ricky gervais is ones of the funniest most versatile comedians out there today.
i saw him on his Fame tour and he was hilarious
November 20th, 2007 at 8:49 am
Gervias is much funnier than anything that has ever been posted on this website (which I do read everyday, first thing in the morning, just so you know).
-while-
Woody Allen is no longer relavent to our society.
Conclusion: Does this really even count as news?
November 20th, 2007 at 9:00 am
First off, to “M.Lafcadio,” comparing Britney Spears’ decline to Woody Allen’s decline is like declaring the fall of Noriega’s regime to the fall of the Roman Empire. Allen was a comedic genius for decades, praised both critically and publicly, whose decline, while severe, does not make him unworthy of respect for his earlier works. Spears was a hack, “popular” for one album or so, but not an artist or a genius. So don’t compare the two.
Second, Gervais is hardly a genius. The original [British] “The Office,” while good in some respects, has been surpassed in every way (but crudity) by its American incarnation (at least as of Season 3; I grant that Season 4 is showing cracks around the edges), and that is entirely due to Greg Daniels, not due to Gervais’ limited role in its production. Gervais’ appearance on “The Simpsons” was not memorable, as it was just another in a long string of celebrity guest appearances and another in a long string of episodes in which the Simpson family experiences the latest American trend, fad, or headline, be it being on a TV show, Homer joining the Army, or Ray Romano playing a blue-collar yutz.
Finally, does Gervais really think that his miniscule achievements give him the right to talk negatively about a true comedic great? (And I say this as someone who’s not really a Woody Allen fan at all, but who can recognize that he was, at one time, a phenomenal talent whose time has come.) What’s next, listening to Beyonce, Rihanna, or (god forbid) Spears talking negatively about Bob Dylan’s last few albums? (Again, not a Dylan fan at all, just saying….)
November 20th, 2007 at 9:06 am
Christ, Dave.
1. Gervais is very funny — see above where I use words like genius and hilarity.
2. Point is that its poor form to spit on a comedy god who produced more than 20 years of great comedy.
3. Is there any blog anywhere online in the history of the interent as funny as The Office? I don’t think so. Apples and Oranges.
4. NEWS????? You mean in the sense that its important? No, its not news. I had a hilarious post on Darfur, but I couldn’t figure out if the punchline should include rape or genocide or both so I scrapped. I rarely cover anything important on this blog. Do you think I should? Seriously. Honest question. Do you think people would care? Thanks for reading.
November 20th, 2007 at 11:09 am
I don’t come here for hard news, Dave! Long live Woody Allen. Ricky Gervais raped my dog!
November 20th, 2007 at 11:11 am
Bullshit, Dave. Some of Jay Pinkerton’s stuff is as funny as anything Gervais or Woody Allen or Douglas Adams has done. Maybe not as momentous, but still laugh-out-loud funny. And the Cliff’s Notes on Mystikal’s Pussy Crook is as funny as anything I’ve ever read, anywhere.
Why shouldn’t internet material be revered when reverence is merited?
November 20th, 2007 at 11:28 am
Oh yeah, I forgot about all this stuff: http://www.cracked.com/contributors/wayne-gladstone
Actually, I think I still prefer The Office, but hey you should see my pilot script about gay robot monkeys.
November 22nd, 2007 at 6:55 am
Honestly I don’t really give two shits about what he said.
In fact I think I like him more because of it.
I had to sit through Melinda and Melinda because some stuck-up intellectual art-school bitch tried to convince me Woody Allen is ‘really great’ and I wanted to get into her pants. I’m sorry NOTHING will undo the horrible-ness of that experience. And I didn’t even get laid.
November 22nd, 2007 at 2:59 pm
If someone had to convince you Woody was great, I don’t know where you’ve been. And if this woman thought Melinda and Melinda was great, I’m thinking it’s good you never slept with her.
December 3rd, 2007 at 11:58 am
I had loved Ricky since before I even KNEW about The Office, via his radio show on XFM London (I lived there for 7 years). I don’t mind Woody Allen, but you have to admit that while I liked Match Point and Scoop, he doesn’t have the same style as his earlier stuff. I think Larry David is more like Woody Allen now, hence why RG is a good mate of his. And I can’t blame RG for not being in a gratuitous “English” film…
Of course, that’s just my opinion, and I’m sticking to it…
January 14th, 2008 at 3:45 am
Gervais has taken comedy down a road that writer of article and most responses don’t appreciate. Fair enough.
Personally , I think it is way better than the constant drivel bland US style comedies. Woody Allen is a total has been , and a whining one at that. Get over yourselves and look around a bit
April 15th, 2008 at 10:54 am
Whatever smug person who wrote this atricle missed the entire point. RG said “Woody Allen isn’t Woody Allen anymore”…thus admitting the fact that Woody WAS good back in the day, hence Bananas, Take The Money And Run, Sleeper, Annie Hall etc..etc..whatever
And to the one comparing RG to sort of a Britney Spears of television, thats just plain retardedness. He has done arguably one of the best sit-coms ever.
Of course when US comes out with its own version, they f—k up the concept, as they do with most things when they make UK originals into US versions.
April 28th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Well lets just wait and see what he comes up with next.
Oh don’t worry! We’ll sell you the rights so you can make a shite version of your own.
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