Netflix Picks Up New Ricky Gervais Series \'Derek\'

September 19, 2012, 4:47 pm

By DAVE ITZKOFF

Ricky Gervais has no need to fear offending viewers of traditional American television with his latest series, because it won't be broadcast there: Netflix said on Wednesday that it had acquired the rights to show “Derek,” a new comedy program written, directed by and starring Mr. Gervais, following its run on Channel 4 in Britain.

On “Derek,” Mr. Gervais, a creator and star of comedies like “The Office” and “Extras,” and a three-time host of the Golden Globe Awards, plays its title character, a naively simple man who works in a nursing home. The show also features Karl Pilkington, a regular on Mr. Gervais's radio show and podcasts, and the star of the travel series “An Idiot Abroad.”

A pilot episode - which stirred up some concern that the Derek character was mocking disabled people, and which Mr. Gervais refuted, saying the character was not disabled - was shown in Britain in April, and drew about 2 million viewers for Channel 4, leading to a full series order. Netflix said it will make “Derek” available some time next year.

Mr. Gervais, whose standup comedy specials and series like “Extras,” “Life's Too Short” and “The Ricky Gervais Show” have been broadcast in America on HBO, said in a statement: “Netflix is the future. TV habits have already changed drastically over the last 10 years and this is the next phase. People want their favorite shows on demand whether they are homegrown or not.”

Mr. Gervais added: “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.”