There's a reason that "The Ricky Gervais Show" is the most popular comedy podcast on the Internet: it's hilarious. The popularity of Gervais and Merchant probably didn't hurt in getting in noticed, but their endless jabs at co-host Karl Pilkington, who really is the star of the show, are what make it a must-listen.  If you've never heard the program, all you need to know is that Pilkington is like all of Gervais' dumbest characters combined.  I suspect that some traits of those characters were based of Pilkington.

Today, Variety is reporting that HBO is picking up the series and turning it into 13 half-hour animated episodes set to debut in early 2010.  I can definitely see their conversations lending themselves to animated romps as Pilkington describes bizarre situations and truths that never happened.  Also, as Gervais makes sure to point out in every episode, Pilkington has a "a head like a fucking orange," so that should be fun for the animators.