Ricky Gervais’ new animated show Alley Cats is being ripped to shreds – 18 people with their claws out for him

It’s fair to say that Ricky Gervais is a…divisive comedian.

Some people love him and devour everything he creates. Others cannot stand him and avoid all of his work like the plague.

Not that Gervais would have it any other way, it seems.

I don’t try to offend, but the more people are offended by a joke, particularly on twitter, the funnier I find it. And the angrier the tweet, the more chance of me using it and turning it to laughs and cash. PC culture isn’t killing comedy. It’s driving it. As it always did 🙏

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) October 31, 2019

So Ricky is probably enjoying watching how many people seem to hate his new animated Netflix series, Alley Cats, about a group of feral, foul-mouthed felines.

In fairness, he did seem to anticipate that some people wouldn’t like it.

If you watch Alley Cats and you get offended at any point, just remember that 1, It’s just a cartoon about cats, and 2, you’re an adult, and can take it 😂 pic.twitter.com/RxwJutHO1I

— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) August 7, 2026

And it does have some fans.

A gang of foul-mouthed stray cats dillydallies around London in the comedian’s hilariously vulgar new animated show. https://t.co/chJ1pVQ9eT

— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) August 7, 2026

#AlleyCats review:

Ricky Gervais' Netflix animated comedy is fundamentally a hangout sitcom about free-range felines. The show nonetheless takes an unexpected direction that makes for an enjoyably low-key binge. Even bulls—ing cats have feelings. https://t.co/wWopUnP7BW

— Variety (@Variety) August 7, 2026

But, hooboy, the people who don’t like it really don’t like it – led by this scathing review by Tom Percival from Metro newspaper with the headline: “I knew Ricky Gervais’ Alley Cats was going to be terrible, but Christ.”

'Alley Cats is the televisual equivalent of a black hole of bad ideas that sucks happiness out of a room, leaving only the howling void of boredom and misery in the space that enjoyment once occupied': https://t.co/y3XQ74JxWx pic.twitter.com/tK4zZOV9bn

— Metro (@MetroUK) August 7, 2026

Here’s a selection of other people with the claws out for Gervais.

1.

Anti-woke boomers having to pretend that Ricky Gervais is funny in 2026 https://t.co/LmHjQKq3FK pic.twitter.com/ttWgHmLF4F

— HowlingToad (@HowlingToad) August 7, 2026

2.

@rickygervais this morning https://t.co/p60vCWouat pic.twitter.com/zz8HLDSwCg

— BRYN_BORANGA (@BRYN_BORANGA) August 7, 2026

3.

The defence against these types of reviews will be Ricky Gervais claiming it’s because modern woke audiences can’t handle swearing or being offended, whilst being deliberately oblivious to all of the excellent sweary & offensive writing in TV & Film that’s actually good. https://t.co/BwntO7sA1A

— The 41st Precinct (@The41stPrecinct) August 7, 2026

4.

I'm sure Ricky Gervais, who famously handles criticism very well, will appreciate these scathing reviews https://t.co/5UyOsVJ5M0

— James Crooks (@jamescrooks) August 7, 2026

5.

Let me guess one of the cats is religious and Ricky the cat says haha you silly god loving cunt and then one of the cats is fat and ugly and Ricky Gervais says haha you fat ugly cunt and then the cats wife dies and he learns the true meaning of Christmas to mopey piano ballads https://t.co/3O3XktKRck

— Ben (@CriminalCosta) August 7, 2026

6.

Ricky Gervais’s abysmal cartoon is the worst thing to happen to cats since Cats

Off-colour jokes, inane swearing and clumsy sentiment: it makes you wonder about the real talent behind The Office

Rare zero-star review for Alley Cats by @anitathetweeter https://t.co/BnUgx4p9sV

— Gareth Davies (@GD10) August 7, 2026

7.

Same, same.

— Gareth Davies (@GD10) August 7, 2026

8.

What about if you're not offended by it at all and think that the main objective of comedy should be that it's funny (which this isn't) not offensive (which this isn't). Is there a plan in place for that? pic.twitter.com/70iL4kp806

— The Sun Apologies (@SunApology) August 7, 2026

9.

Alley Cats is a fascinating issue for Ricky Gervais because there’s absolutely no culture war ‘ooo are you offended snowflake’ narrative about it, every critic from left to right just think it’s shit https://t.co/z5dGM1m5lb

— Charlie Herbert (@CharlieHerb9) August 8, 2026

10.

Can we all just collectively agree the only thing that's ever been funny about Ricky Gervais is Stephen Merchant https://t.co/LGaLja31ze

— NJ (@NoJusticeMTG) August 7, 2026

11.

Ricky Gervais' mercifully short animated series has very little to offer any potential audience members outside of his diehard fanbase or people who find the c-word inherently funny

Read the ⭐ review of 'Alley Cats' here: https://t.co/9tVHtnv1jq

— NME (@NME) August 7, 2026

12.

I don't say it lightly, but it's time for Ricky Gervais to quit TV. Netflix's Alley Cats is woeful – Alex Davies https://t.co/FvyUjUP6XL

— GB News (@GBNEWS) August 7, 2026

13.

GB news is woke now 😞 https://t.co/MAsWbusya7

— Bilal Zafar | RUBICON #Edfringe26 (@Zafarcakes) August 7, 2026

14.

Hmm Betty, the cat’s just shat out the worst cartoon of all time

— Jonathan Turner (@jturner_91) August 7, 2026

15.

"Topics including AIDS, autoerotic asphyxiation and inter-species intercourse are invoked alongside relentless swearing as lazy shortcuts to button-pushing."

Ricky Gervais: not nearly as funny as he thinks he is. https://t.co/KETMnP8uLK

— Nicola (she/her) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ (@nicclesb) August 7, 2026

16.

Ricky Gervais' new animated outing isn’t offensive. It’s just incredibly lazy.
https://t.co/jpHPGNtY79

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) August 7, 2026

17.

Alley Cats review: Something has gone very wrong with Ricky Gervais' new animated series https://t.co/X66vtDOXJa

— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) August 8, 2026

18.

Ricky Gervais sitcom dialogue post-Stephen Merchant: https://t.co/OZWzhfDeGa pic.twitter.com/bfw6ZBkpbN

— El Borto (@bortinez_) August 7, 2026