Ricky Gervais’ new Netflix show is getting torn apart by fans and they’re right

‘Ricky, your show is appalling.’

Not my words. The words of Richard ‘Dickers’ Anderson, a regular contributor to Ricky Gervais’s shambolic XFM radio show, which barely made a dent when it was broadcast in the early 2000s, but which, like The Office, Extras, and anything involving Karl Pilkington, has gone on to have a cult following. 

If you’ve ever wondered why, for example, every post Stephen Merchant shares on Instagram promoting an exciting movie project is accompanied by hundreds of comments about ‘little monkey fellas’, then this ‘tinpot radio show’ is the reason why. 

But I was reminded of Anderson’s criticism when I saw the trailer for Alley Cats, Gervais’ new Netflix show, which dropped yesterday, and I realised ‘Anders’ had been oddly prophetic. 

This animated series will follow a clowder of cats trying to survive on the city streets while commenting on the absurdities of modern life. 

You might think it’s harsh to judge a show on a trailer, but seeing Alley Cats boast an impressive vocal cast (i.e. the same group of mates that Ricky casts in everything, playing roughly the same characters), I was happy to make a snap judgment. 

There’s cat Diane Morgan, playing a naive woman Ricky’s character can patronise; there’s cat Tom Basden, playing the wimpish straight man for Ricky to berate; there’s cat David Earl, playing a disgusting sex-crazed character for Ricky to be repulsed by. 

It looks awful, and it’s not surprising, in my opinion, the ‘genius’ behind The Office hasn’t written anything good in a decade.

There are plenty of fans of Ricky’s live work, and if you enjoy reheated Karl Pilkington anecdotes and ‘weak observations, poorly performed,’ I’m sure you loved all those transgender gags in Armageddon, Mortality, and whatever the other one is called. 

Yet as inept as I find Ricky’s recent attempts at stand-up, it’s his TV work that’s really seen a dip in quality.

It’s hard to believe that the same man who spends all day posting cry-laugh emojis on Twitter and writing mawkish sitcoms also helped to co-create two of the best sitcoms ever made.  

Nevertheless, rather than challenging himself to write something new (let alone funny), Ricky’s essentially been reheating the same maudlin slop. 

Derek and After Life are the standout examples, of course, in which subtlety is abandoned, jokes are just people swearing, and every single character pretty much stares down the camera lens, Tim Canterbury style, to talk about how good Ricky’s character is. 

It can basically be boiled down to some social outsider who’s cleverer or wiser than the terrible people around them, who teaches people some profound lesson like ‘be kind’ or ‘life’s short’.

Watching After Life, for instance, feels like you’re watching someone winning old arguments in the shower, but to an audience of millions. 

If you’re wondering where the jokes fit into this formula, that’s the neat part. They don’t! Well, unless you count calling people c**** a punchline. 

Don’t worry, though, what these shows lack in gags they make up for with sad acoustic songs and dead wife montages. 

Despite being animated, Alley Cats doesn’t look like it is going to mess with that winning formula, and I’m bracing myself for a feline Gervais having an excuse to swear, make jokes about fat kids, and pretend that saying ‘life is a gift’ is some novel concept and not the type of thing a 16-year-old would think was deep. 

You might think I’m letting my dislike of Gervais’ modern material cloud my judgment, and yes, I am biased; I haven’t seen Alley Cats. It could be good, possibly even great! 

But I am not alone in my antipathy towards Alley Cats. 

On YouTube, @bodjac89 wrote: ‘Genuinely the least funny trailer I’ve ever seen, Jesus wept.‘

‘Ricky Gervais has become everything that he used to mock,’ added @davidbroadhurst6958. ‘This looks abysmal.’

‘It’s nice for a trailer to not spoil any of the good jokes and leave them in the show. Just give us the crap ones in the trailer,’ joked @benjaminm4702.

Hardly a ringing endorsement, is it? There wasn’t much enthusiasm on Reddit either, where users of the r/RickyGervais community have long been almost as sceptical about his TV work as I have.  

‘“Life is a gift” – Does Ricky base all his writing these days on the kind of things you read embroidered on old women’s cushions?’ asked Downtown-Ad-311.

‘I was expecting it to be bad, but Jesus,’ added Inevitable-Zone261. ‘Gervais sounds like he recorded this as fast as he could whilst lying down.’

All that said, I did find some people who feel positive about the show on X, where @Miss_Muthoni_wrote: ‘Will definitely be seated for this, looks funny and I love cats.’

@GAVIN00006 agreed adding: ‘I’m sceptical but hopeful, the emotional scene towards the middle gives me hope that this could maybe have a strong emotional core, which would definitely hook me.’

Normally, I’d put a third tweet here, but I couldn’t find one. I’m sure any praise will quickly be reposted by the man himself. 

Anyway, maybe you should make your own mind up about Alley Cats. Ricky has been funny in the past (with some help from Steve Merchant, even if he doesn’t always acknowledge the lanky co-writer), so maybe he could be funny again.

As for me? Well, to paraphrase another of Dickers’ emails to XFM, I won’t be watching, I’ll be busy watching a puddle evaporate.

Alley Cats is out on Netflix on August 7.