

Ricky Gervais may not be back to host the Golden Globes next year, but he will definitely be back on HBO, as animated as ever.

The premium cable channel has renewed "The Ricky Gervais Show" for a third season. The comedy is an animated version of the popular podcast featuring Gervais, his longtime collaborator Stephen Merchant and Gervais colleague and friend Karl Pilkington, whose offbeat observations spark riducule and laughs.

The podcast on which the series is based reportedly has passed the 300 million download mark; it was listed as holding the record for most downloaded podcast in the 2007 edition of Guinness World Records.

-- Greg Braxton

Photo: The animated versions of Stephen Merchant, Ricky Gervais and Karl Pilkington clown on "The Ricky Gervais Show."

Credit: HBO