New show for Gervais as he hypes Golden Globes

The comedian and star of The Office Ricky Gervais has been given a new TV show in America - an off-beat animated version of the successful podcasts he made for the Guardian, featuring musings on everyday life from Gervais, his collaborator Stephen Merchant and their friend Karl Pilkington.

The three men will provide their own voices for The Ricky Gervais Show which will debut on HBO on February 19.

It marks the latest advance in the States for Gervais, already known for The Office, Extras and his 2009 film The Invention of Lying, and whose profile is about to be raised hugely when he presents the Golden Globes awards ceremony on network TV in the new year.

While Gervais has been spotted running in the snow near his Hampstead home in recent days, getting himself in shape to pull on a tuxedo and host the Globes on January 17, NBC has been promoting Gervais vigorously, hoping that the "high-risk" appointment of an edgy stand-up comedian to host what is normally a "safe" event will reap dividends.

NBC need all the help they can get - the show has lost 5m viewers in the past two years.

In one recent interview, Gervais said: "The trouble is that when I walk out on a stage, there's usually two voices in my head. One that says 'Just be nice and go have a mint after', and the other that says, 'No, say what you thought of saying but thought you shouldn't'.

"There's an argument between good and evil, and the evil one usually wins."
 
In a filmed promo for the awards ceremony (see video above), Gervais is seen in a chic Hollywood house with an indoor pool and views - supposedly - across to the homes of various stars, including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. "I thought it was a school at first," says Gervais, referring to the ever increasing brood of Brangelina adoptees.

But the main thrust of the promo is that NBC took a big gamble employing him. "What were they thinking?" he asks. "It's live! What can they do?"

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