Ricky Gervais, excellent roaster of Hollywood and the funnyman behind The Office and Extras, is taking his talents to Netflix. His new show Derek—in which he writes, directs and stars—will be available for anyone to watch on Netflix next year.


It's another instance of Netflix bolstering up their original programming with good taste. Here's what Gervais had to say about bringing his series onto Netflix:

As an artist you want the fruits of your labor to be seen by the largest number of people possible without having to compromise the product. This deal gave me the freedom and the huge potential viewers of the Internet but the production values of film and TV. They also made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Come on, an artist gotta eat man."


Seems like the suits at Netflix are really serious about becoming a pseudo-network in the lines of HBO. Lillyhammer, Netflix's first original series, was a disappointment but we're hoping the return of Arrested Development and this Gervais show will more than make up for it. [NY Times, Image Credit Getty]