# Simpsons 3/26 - Featuring and written by Ricky Gervais **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980 "2006-03-26T18:50:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/21 "2006-03-27T01:49:43Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > That was totally David Brent. I think you sort of have to have seen the original version of _The Office_ to have really gotten it. Exactly. If you’ve seen the Brit version of The Office, it would seem perfect. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/22 "2006-03-27T01:51:46Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > That was totally David Brent. I think you sort of have to have seen the original version of _The Office_ to have really gotten it. Exactly what I was thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/23 "2006-03-27T01:55:17Z")
> [@Scruloose](#): > > Crap! I missed the intro. > > Is this what they ran? [VideosHub | Popular Internet Videos](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/82356/the_real_simpsons/) Yeah that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/24 "2006-03-27T02:57:19Z")
At least the fixed the intro so that they drove on the correct, American sides of the car. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/25 "2006-03-27T03:20:47Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > That was totally David Brent. I think you sort of have to have seen the original version of _The Office_ to have really gotten it. Totally agree. Did anyone notice how well the animators copied “Brent’s” facial expressions and mannerisms? The tie-fiddling, the overbite? That impressed me. It was OK, but not genius. I recall chuckling a couple of times, can’t remember about what. Maybe turning the hose on the American Idol contestants? Hee. I think Ricky G. is funny and would have liked to have seen him expand a bit and do something we BBC “Office” fans haven’t seen already. ---
**Author:** ![Lochdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/edb3f5/32.png) [@Lochdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lochdale)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/26 "2006-03-27T03:29:24Z")
“You use a lot of words to say nothing!” Heh, brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/27 "2006-03-27T03:31:31Z")
Was really looking forward to this. I’ll echo what those above said-- not awful, but fairly lackluster. Liked the beginning (though I’d already seen it on youtube) and liked RG’s song with the whole Princess Di(e) business. Unfortunately a “meh”. Back to [the XFM broadcasts](http://www.mininova.org/tor/237220). ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/28 "2006-03-27T03:39:34Z")
Possibly the least funniest Simpsons episode ever. Please do not let this Ricky Gervaise dude near the set ever again. ☹ PS The live-action opening was awesome! ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/29 "2006-03-27T04:11:36Z")
I thought this episode was pretty good. Ricky Gervais’s character only played a minor role, and the song he wrote for Marge (which he actually wrote) was very funny. “Wow. You can really see the soulessness in that shark’s eyes. Ooh, _Two and a Half Men_. You can really see the soulessness in Charlie Sheen’s eyes.” “FOX- #2 WITH PRISONERS 18-49” Homer meeting Dan Castelleneta The joke about the similarities between _Wife Swap_ and _Trading Spouses_ “Homer, now for your report on _CSI: Miami_.” “There was a crime somewhere- I think it was Miami. Then CSI Miami went in to investigate it. Then everyone said how great the Olive Garden was. Then I fell asleep. When I woke up, Letterman was talking to _Alias_.” ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/30 "2006-03-27T04:52:22Z")
> [@Frostillicus](#): > > Please do not let this Ricky Gervaise dude near the set ever again. The Springfield set _is_ a high security zone it’s damned hard for _anyone_ to get near it. This one time, though, when I dropped six tabs of LSD and took the Fox Network tour, a coyote that talked like Johnny Cash snuck me in. …and I thought this was one of the better episodes, period. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/31 "2006-03-27T04:58:20Z")
It was funny if I pretended everyone had british accents. -FrL- ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/32 "2006-03-27T05:06:11Z")
> [@Scruloose](#): > > Crap! I missed the intro. > > Is this what they ran? [VideosHub | Popular Internet Videos](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/82356/the_real_simpsons/) > [@Eleusis](#): > > Yeah that’s it. Not quite, (I still wonder why I noticed this) The shot of Marge and Maggie pressing the horn was reversed to show the steering wheel in the “correct” American position, (the clip originally was shown in England) and then [Nelson]Ha, Ha[/Nelson] They digitally hided Homer’s butt crack when he was running in the garage. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/33 "2006-03-27T05:33:22Z")
The opening was great. But I laughed out loud when the two FOX film-crew guys wrote to each other during Gervais’s song to Marge: “What a jerk!” “Don’t waste cue cards.” ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/34 "2006-03-27T06:15:46Z")
> [@Lochdale](#): > > “You use a lot of words to say nothing!” > > Heh, brilliant. I second that - best line of the episode. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/35 "2006-03-27T07:34:16Z")
Eh, that was pretty funny. Better than most Simpsons these days. And the song was quite good. Anyone else notice that Lenny’s fancy new apartment building is still next to the Jai Alai court? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/36 "2006-03-27T09:53:42Z")
> [@Diogenes the Cynic](#): > > That was totally David Brent. I think you sort of have to have seen the original version of _The Office_ to have really gotten it. I’ve seen the original version of The Office. This episode still sucked ass. Terrible, horrible, boring on top of boring. Cringeworthy in its wretchedness. Entirely a waste of a half-hour of television that could’ve been used for something that was actually entertaining. Like maybe a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. The only amusing thing was the opening credits, and they were made by someone else. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/37 "2006-03-27T13:45:34Z")
I thought it was a pretty funny episode. Gervais whoel style cracks me up and he was doing his Office shtick. I liked when he told the joke to Marge. She says, “well, I liked the genie.” He says he scheduled the meeting for conference room C and she says, “that’s good thinking. . .if something comes up, rooms A and B are still open.” “Ain’t no party like a Lenny party.” (something like that) On the TV: “Everything is so highly defined.” I also liked Homer’s slo-mo flight onto the couch. ---
**Author:** ![Mal\_Adroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Mal\_Adroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mal_Adroit)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/38 "2006-03-27T14:06:18Z")
Very funny stuff. Certainly not The Classic of all time, but more than a few laugh-out-louds. The Princess Di song completely rocked. When is RG gonna release an album of these?? (I know he already recorded his signature tune proper.) \*Free love on the freelove freeway, The love is free and the freeway’s long I got some hot love on the hotlove highway, Ain’t going home ‘cause my baby’s gone. A little while later, see a senorita She’s caught a flat trying to make it home She says “Por favor, can you pump me up?” I say “Muchos gracias, adios. Bye Bye.”\* 😃 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/39 "2006-03-27T14:25:40Z")
I guess I’m not allowed to “vote” on the episode, given the following information: Of the 3 of us watching, 2 of us fell asleep and the 3rd nearly did. If I didn’t see the whole thing I guess giving it a “W.E.E.” would be wrong. But clearly falling asleep during a new Simpsons should tell you something. **jjimm** : Watch _any_ episode of “Extras” and you will find that “joke” in it. If you want to defend Gervais’s career, at least watch a few of his shows. **Larry Mudd** : “Carol Burnett” was a mildly amusing show. “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is another one of those “same obvious material over and over and over and over” shows. Let me guess, in the latest episode Larry says something that someone misunderstands and his attempts to clear it up actually make it worse. Wow, and I didn’t even see it! Look up the expression “The Emperor has no clothes” folks. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980/40 "2006-03-27T14:32:41Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Gervais, with the Office, has actually created a new genre of television humour - that of the situationally mundane - that has never been seen before. Never been seen before? Come on. I’ve watched the British version of The Office and the jokes come from the boss being a jerk which results in awkward and uncomfortable situations, which we then laugh at. It’s actually a very old comedy staple. And I give the episode a “D.” Nothing laugh out loud funny, although I did crack a grin a few times. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simpsons-3-26-featuring-and-written-by-ricky-gervais/349980.md?page=3)