David Brent, Ricky Gervais’ creation from the original (and far superior) British version of The Office is back, courtesy of Britain’s Comic Relief, in a hilarious ten-minute short that updates fans on what the sad and cringe-inducing ex-Wernham Hoggpaper Company Department manager has been doing for the ten years since the brilliant series ended in the United Kingdom.
After only two short seasons and a Christmas Special, comedian Ricky Gervais ended the series on an extreme high-note, wanting to pull the plug while riding high as opposed to just crashing and burning like such hit shows as The Sopranos or The X-Files. But the show’s popularity skyrocketed Gervais to international fame, and spawned scores of mediocre remakes here in the States and in a dozen other countries across the world.
We find out that Mr. Brent is now roaming around England selling bathroom cleaning products and trying to manage up and coming musicians. Brent is currently managing the young and yet-to-be-discovered hip-hop artist Dom Johnson, and then weasels his way into a song during a recording session and then into the hilarious music video for their reggae song, Equality Street (one wonders if the title is a play on the name of the popular UK chocolate Quality Street).
The short and song have become so popular online that the single became the #1 most downloaded song on iTunes as of March 21. It prompted Gervais to start tweeting questions to his fans asking if they wanted to see more of Mr. Brent, and if they would watch, say, on Ricky Gervais’ Official YouTube Channel, a video of David Brent teaching you how to play your favorite rock songs on guitar. So hopefully more David Brent is on the way.
If you don’t know the original version of The Office, and only know the Americanized one that is now reruns every half-hour on cable TV… shame on you. You should really school yourself and check out the incredibly funny show that started the whole phenomenon.
But at the end of the day I guess Gervais is the winner no matter what, because every reincarnation of his show is another royalty paycheck into his bank account.
In the meantime, check out David Brent back in action!