One-hour show will wrap up HBO series

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant are sticking to their plan of not filming a third season of "Extras." But the show isn't quite finished either.

The award-winning duo will close out the story of background actor-turned-sitcom star Andy Millman (Gervais) with a one-hour "Extras" special, HBO announced Thursday at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour. Gervais and Merchant did something similar with the original version of "The Office," finishing off two seasons with a one-shot special (which earned an Emmy nomination for writing in 2005).

"It's been an honor to present this hilarious series on HBO," says Carolyn Strauss, president of HBO Entertainment. "I can't wait to see how Ricky and Stephen will wrap up the saga of Andy Millman."

The "Extras" special, a co-production of HBO and the BBC, is scheduled to shoot next month. An airdate hasn't been determined yet.

And as for its content? "Fame is a mask that eats into the face -- even a pug-nosed face," Gervais says. "Andy Millman is now a big star. He has a hit TV show, a brand new hot-shot agent and a multimillion-dollar mansion. But it's not enough."

Season two of "Extras" focused primarily on Andy selling his creative soul to get a sitcom on the air. Despite his show's poor quality, though, it became a hit and Andy became somewhat famous -- which only served to magnify his frequent insensitivity.

Despite all that, though, the season ended on a hopeful note with Andy and his friend Maggie ("Ugly Betty's" Ashley Jensen) on their way to a meeting with Robert De Niro that his heretofore incompetent agent Darren (Merchant) had arranged.