Patrick Stewart on "Extras"

Ricky Gervais, best know for his BBC television series The Office

(later duplicated by NBC) has a new (and very dry) comedy series called

Extras, in which he plays an actor struggling to land supporting and

background roles. To help, Gervais has lined up a special guest star

for each episode, each of whom plays a caricaturized version of

themselves in a manner reminiscent of The Larry Sanders Show. The

guests for the first season are:

• Ben Stiller
• Ross Kemp (brit TV celeb, I’m unfamiliar with him)
• Kate Winslet
• Les Dennis (brit TV celeb, I’m unfamiliar with him)
• Sameul L. Jackson
• Patrick Stewart

Here’s a samping: a scene in which Ricky’s character approaches

Patrick Stewart in his trailer asking him to use his clout to get

people to look at his script. Stewart deadpans beautifully in this

perfomance, which is pretty similar to the “Sexy Cakes” skit he

did years ago on Saturday Night Live. His closing line made me laugh

out loud.

Go take a look! [9.6MB, Widows Media Video].

Extras will start broadcasting in the U.S. on HBO on September 25th.