are you 'avin' a laugh?

We've been following Series 2 of Extras since it started a few weeks back, mostly by catching up with the episode on the BBC website later as we're not very good at being in at 9pm on Thursdays.

We didn't watch the first series. I caught a bit of it and didn't like it so didn't bother - I never really liked the Office either. My week in Tenerife back in April changed my mind though as I watched the whole of Extras 1 on DVD, including the extras and thought it was great.

To be frank, I think series 2 is a bit of a disappointment.

In the first series, they had one celebrity per episode and basically made them look like complete prats. It was focussed and funny. In series 2, they seem to be trying desperately to cram as many celebs as possible into each episode, resulting in each only getting a bit part and not really being all that funny. This week they even resorted to using a clip of TV talk show just to get Germaine Greer into it. Pointless. It was much better when they just had one celebrity. If they're that inundated by famous people desperate to appear on the show, they could just make more episodes.

It also feels like there's been a bit of a role reversal between the regular characters. Throughout the first series, Andy was kinda stupid and put his foot in it many times, his agent bailing him out on most occasions. This time, it appears to be the agent who is clueless, with Andy being the sensible despairing one alongside. Consistency? Continuity?

It's just not funny anymore. We've watcher entire episodes, barely laughing the whole time. There's only been one outstandingly funny joke so far - the scene with the fizzy water in the latest episode. Brilliant.