The Ricky Gervais Guide To...
The Ricky Gervais Guide To... is a series of audiobooks from Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington. While it is the sixth series of audiobooks overall, it is a reinvention of The Ricky Gervais Show. Based on blog entries and on-air discussions, Ricky and Karl appear to have grown tired of the old format of the show and have adapted a quasi-educational format to rejuvenate the series. Each episode of the series is based around a particular academic or intellectual topic, with Ricky and Steve hoping to educate Karl and the listeners on the topic in question. Ricky, Steve and Karl would research the topic before recording and present what they had learned as part of the show. Every episode starts with a somewhat cliched intro from Ricky, where he introduced the trio and their respective qualifications (or lack there of). The shows are available on itunes and Audible.co.uk.
Shows Currently Available
Coming Soon
- The Arts - February 2009
- Philosophy - TBC
- On his blog, Ricky has speculated on various other topics for the series, but thus far no more have been confirmed.
Reception/Controversy
As with previous audiobooks, The Ricky Gervais Guide To... has been extremely successful, dominating itunes charts world wide. Medicine and Natural History shot to the top of the audiobook charts in the UK, America and all over Europe on the day of release. While more recent output from the boys has received mixed reactions from fans on the Pilkipedia forum, the "guides" (and their previews) have been very well received. Most people cited the new format as one of the reasons they enjoyed the show. It was also apparent that the boys actually appeared to enjoy doing the show, something that was missing from the NME Radio Show which was poorly received.
While the original audiobook was intended to be released on New Year's Eve 2008, it was released a week early on itunes and audible.com, much to the delight of American and European fans. However, Pilki-fans in the UK were unable to get the shows as it had yet to appear on the UK itunes store or audible.co.uk.
Ricky's comments about fat people caused mild controversy with various internet news sites reporting his "attack on the obese". In the audiobooks, Ricky expressed his frustration at obese people who claimed their ailment was no fault of their own, likening obesity to homosexuality. Some critics boo-booed Ricky's coarse and abrasive language when lambasting the overweight. Ricky frequently posted articles criticising him on his website and usually responded with an unapologetic blog entry. In various blog entries, Ricky bemoaned the fact that media figures were criticising swearing but never specified what particular events had sparked the reaction. This may have been tied to the above articles criticising his own language.
Many users were frustrated by the price of the audiobooks, at 1.95 (Pound Sterling and Euro) when Ricky had earlier said it would be "around a pound".
Trivia
- Ricky likened the new format to the Educating Karl feature on the Xfm shows.
- Before each show became available, the trio have released previews featuring clips from the respective shows as well as some impromptu conversations.
- In his blog, Ricky requested people send Karl natural history questions for the series but they were never used.