extra (franchise)

extr@ is a language education television program 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.

extr@
Created by	Channel 4 Learning
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	30 (English) 13 (French, Spanish, German) (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Andrew Bethell
Running time	24 Minutes
Release
Original network	Channel 4 (UK) multiple PBS member station/network instructional television blocks (U.S.)
Original release	2002 – 2004

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 episode 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 ended with Sam questioning "Should I go?", and there were no more episode produced, hinting Sam's departure. Thus the plot begins and ends with Sam.

Cast

English	French	German	Spanish
Hector Romero [1]	Sam Scott	Sam Scott	Sam Scott
Julie Buckfield – Annie Taylor[1]	Marie Cordillot – Annie	Britta Becker – Anna Schmidt[2]	Celia Meiras – Ana
Abby Simpson – Bridget Evans[1]	Vanessa Seydoux – Sacha Fontaine[3]	Leontine Hass – Sascha Meier/Fontane[2][4][lower-alpha 1]	Vanessa Otero – Lola Cano[5]
Toby Walton – Nick Jessop	Jean-Felix Callens – Nico Dubois	Frank Brunet – Nic Müller[6]	Javier Marzan – Pablo Aranda García[7]

Episodes

Episode	English	French	German	Spanish
1	Hector’s Arrival	L'arrivée de Sam	Sams Ankunft	La llegada de Sam
2	Hector Goes Shopping	Sam fait du shopping	Sam geht einkaufen	Sam va de compras
3	Hector Has a Date	Sam a un rendez-vous	Sam hat ein Date	Sam aprende a ligar
4	Hector Looks for a Job	Sam trouve du travail	Sam sucht einen Job	Sam busca un trabajo
5	A Star Is Born	Une étoile est née	Ein Star ist geboren	Ha nacido una estrella
6	Bridget Wins the Lottery	Le jour du loto	Lotto-Tag	El día de la Primitiva
7	The Twin	La jumelle	Der Zwilling	La gemela
8	The Landlady’s Cousin	La cousine de la concierge	Die Kusine der Vermieterin	La prima de la dueña
9	Jobs for the Boys	Du boulot pour Sam et Nico	Jobs für Nic und Sam	Trabajos para los chicos
10	Annie’s Protest	Annie proteste	Anna demonstriert	Ana protesta
11	Holiday Time	Les vacances	Ferienzeit	Tiempo de vacaciones
12	Football Crazy	Fou de foot	Verrückt nach Fußball	Fanáticos del fútbol
13	A Wedding in the Air	Un mariage dans l'air	Hochzeitspläne	Boda en el aire
14	Changes
15	The Bouncer
16	Uncle Nick
17	Cyber Stress
18	Just the Ticket
19	Kung Fu Fighting
20	Every Dog has its Day
21	The Entertainers
22	Haunting at Halloween
23	Truth or Dare
24	Pilot Nick
25	Art
26	Alibi
27	Can You Live Without ...?
28	Christmas
29	Camping
30	Love Hurts

Notes

1. In the German version, Sascha's surname is given as Meier in episode 4, but as Fontane in episode 13

References

1. https://www.planet-schule.de/fileadmin/dam_media/swr/extra/pdf/en_sc26.pdf
2. "4Learning - Secondary - Resources4Learning - Secondary - Resources - Modern Languages - German Extra - Sam finds a job". 11 November 2010. Archived from the original on 11 November 2010.
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFywXWHjZ08
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkc3PbgXPR4
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGdxsg5PZ_M
6. "4Learning - Secondary - Resources - Modern Languages - German Extra: Series 2 - Episode 5: Ein Star ist geboren". 9 July 2010. Archived from the original on 9 July 2010.
7. "4Learning - Secondary - Resources - Modern Languages - Spanish Extra: Series 2 - Programme 5 - Transcript". 6 October 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014.

External links

• Extra on IMDb