Extra (stylized as "extr@") is a language education television programme franchise that was scripted in the format of a Friends-esque sitcom. It was in production from 2002 to 2004, and is mainly marketed to the instructional television market for middle school and high school language classes. Four versions were made, each in a different language; English, French, German, and Spanish.
The English version was co-produced by Channel 4 Learning and RAI CPTO (Production Centre of Turin) for RAI Educational. All of the episodes were written by Louise Clover.
Plot
The English version has 30 episodes, and the other three languages have 13 episodes each. The plot of the 13 episodes is nearly the same in all the language variants.
Hector/Sam, with only a very basic grasp of the featured language, comes to stay with his pen pal, Bridget/Sacha/Sascha/Lola. Living with Bridget/Sacha/Sascha/Lola is roommate Anna/Annie/Ana. Sleazy and sly neighbor Nick/Nico/Nic/Pablo lives across the hallway. Hector's/Sam's efforts to get to grips with the language provide the dynamic for the series' language learning content. The series is particularly suitable for adolescents and young adults who can relate to the contextual setting and implied meanings in the screenplay. The series ended with Sam and Annie's wedding being canceled, ending with a cliff-hanger; however, the English version had 17 more episodes which provides a better understanding of the character, continuing with Nico and Sacha beginning to date and facing problems, and Sam and Annie wanting to break up. In the end, Sam was offered a job opportunity in the U.S as a producer. The 30th episode, Love hurts, ended with Sam questioning "Should I go?", and there were no more episodes produced, hinting at Sam's departure. Thus the plot begins and ends with Sam.
Cast
Episodes
The episode descriptions are based on the English version. The plots are almost the same in the language versions. Word play, as with any internationalization, is usually untranslatable and involves slight differences.
Episode 1
Bridget (Sacha, Sascha, Lola) shares a flat in London (Paris, Berlin, Barcelona) with her friend Annie (Anna, Ana). She receives a letter from her former pen pal Hector from Argentina (Sam from America) announcing his visit. When he actually appears, his knowledge of the English (French, German, Spanish) language turns out to be very poor. This leads to the misunderstanding that he is supposedly playing with toy cars and living in a museum. He also wears old-fashioned clothes. The girls are annoyed by this and wonder whether they should accommodate him. They suggest to Nick (Nico, Pablo), a neighbor who now appears, that he should teach Hector English (French, German, Spanish) lessons while they go grocery shopping.
Jealous Nick slyly teaches Hector words with which he later unsuspectingly annoy Annie. He also encourages Hector to prove his fitness on Bridget's exercise bike, even though he knows that she doesn't tolerate strangers on it. As this makes Hector sweat, he goes to take a shower. The returning girls have had enough and want to throw Hector out. When Hector comes out of the shower dressed only in a towel, they are fascinated by his body and are speechless.
Suddenly Nick pushes Hector back into the bathroom and closes the door. He has found a portrait of Hector and his rich family in a magazine. After Hector confesses to him that he is looking for true friends, they both decide not to tell the girls about it. In the meantime, the girls have changed their minds and ensnare Hector. It also turns out that Hector's bad impression was due to Nick's machinations. Since today is also a holiday, they have a small party.
Episode 2
Bridget, Annie and Nick are upset about Hector's old-fashioned style of dress and want to give him a new wardrobe. However, their ideas about the new style diverge greatly. Nick wants a biker, Annie a cowboy and Bridget wants a trendy style. Each of the three buys a piece for Hector. When they get home, they realise that they don't match. After the three practise shopping with Hector in the local language, he goes off himself and, amazingly, returns shortly afterwards in a fashionable outfit.
While they were away, Hector had found a shopping list and ordered the goods on it online. Bridget, Nick and Annie now realise that he ordered one item incorrectly and bought 12 dozen instead of 12 eggs. Finally, the landlady complains that there are 400 tins of dog food in the entrance to the house. Immediately it becomes clear who screwed this up.