I'm a huge Gervais fan (well, Gervais/Merchant fan), and have been ever since I discovered the podcasts back in '06 (they were putting out 3 free ones called The Podfather at the time). The Office is probably my all-time favorite TV show, with Extras not far behind. I've been looking forward to the HBO show for months because now my friends will finally know what I've been talking about all this time.
That being said, I only really like Ricky whenever he's working with Steve Merchant. Here's why:
Stuff he's done with Steve:
-The Office
-Extras
-XFM Radio / Podcasts
Stuff he's done without Steve:
-Ghost Town
-The Invention of Lying
-His stand-up specials
As you can see, there's quite a bit of a quality difference there. They've got a film coming out soon called Cemetery Junction though, which is the first thing they've written together since Extras, so I'm hoping it'll be good.