Ricky Gervais Discusses Upcoming Netflix Exclusive ‘Derek’ On New Facebook Page

The Ricky Gervais dramedy Derek, which has already aired on Channel 4 in the U.K., is set to exclusively debut in the U.S. on Netflix in September. The show only recently got an official Facebook page, and Gervais has been using it to talk about Derek ahead of our introduction to it.

“With only a few weeks now until Derek is available on Netflix, I though I might talk it up a little without spoiling it for anyone who hasn’t seen it yet,” he wrote in a post on Tuesday. He continued:

Is Derek a comedy or a drama? I get asked that a lot. Even after people have seen it.

I say, “What do you think it is?”

They say, “Well I laughed a lot but I cried as well. I’m just not sure if it was a drama with funny bits or a comedy with sad bits.”

I usually then say, “Derek is whatever you think real life is. Is your life a drama with funny bits or a comedy with sad bits?”

The answer doesn’t matter really. What matters is if you enjoy it… for whatever reason. Because it made you laugh, because it made you cry, because it made you think or even because it made you angry. Ha ha.

As long as it made you “something”.

Here’s what Gervais had to say about Derek on Netflix last year when news broke that it would be getting the show:

“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. 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,” said Gervais.

He also tweeted this:

The show has already been picked up for a second series, at least by Channel 4. Series 1 hits Netflix on September 12th.