SummaryRicky Gervais and Stephen Merchant return to HBO with yet another British comedy series. Warwick Davis, best known for his role in Willow, plays a fictionalized version of himself.
SummaryRicky Gervais and Stephen Merchant return to HBO with yet another British comedy series. Warwick Davis, best known for his role in Willow, plays a fictionalized version of himself.
Very funny series and hilarious plots. People who critic negatively this show must have personal issues and don't need to share their comments. Well written, and the cast is great! Keep the show on for more years, as your fan base will continue with their support.
Very funny and although probably rehashing some ideas from their previous works still good writing and definately one of my top 10 comedy moments when Warwick is in the office with the guys and Liam Neeson. The Special episode that came two years later was sadly very boring and only slightly funny.
What's different about Life's Too Short, and what makes it watchable, is that Mr. Davis--who portrayed Filius Flitwick in the "Harry Potter" films, as well as multiple "Star Wars" Ewoks--is so good at playing Mr. Gervais's stock character.
Though there are some good jokes here and there about the humiliations a little person actor has to endure on your average movie set, for the most part, the biggest laughs have little to do with Davis and everything to do with the celebrity guests.
Life's Too Short is occupied with nonsensical and barely developed sketch ideas as well as Extras-style celebrity cameos, Gervais and Merchant among them.
In many respects, this show is lacking. The episode plots are not perfectly constructed, the writing isn't always on point and the characters are not complex. However, despite these shortcomings (pardon the pun) Life's Too Short ultimately delivers powerful laughs that make it timeless. Seldom do I find a show that is able to make me burst out laughing like this one. So what if it often utilizes cameo appearances from famous actors? They are absolutely hilarious and enjoyable to watch.
Sometimes I want to watch an intricate web of plotlines converge in a hysterical culmination of events that cause me to consistently chuckle throughout the episode (e.g. Seinfeld) But I also enjoy comedies that are able to provide incredible moments of situational humor that leave me with tears in my eyes. In this respect, Life's Too Short is an undeniable success
With The Office and Extras on their CV Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant have been responsible for two of the best British sit-coms of the modern era and their influence is again very much evident in Life's Too Short.
As with The Office their latest series is shot in fake documentary style but this time around it focuses on a fictional version of actor Warwick Davis as he struggles to come to terms with his fading career. Throughout this series Davis shows himself to be an excellent comic actor even if he does play things a little too similar to David Brent on occasions. The majority of the celebrity cameos are also well written (particularly Liam Neeson) and the ongoing jokes involving the likes of Les Dennis and Shaun Williamson are very funny indeed.
However the reason The Office and Extras were so well received, aside from the fact they were very funny, was their originality and it is in this department that Life's Too Short fails. When watching it is hard not to be constantly reminded of scenes from Gervais and Merchants earlier, usually superior, work. Everytime Warwick Davis gives a knowing look to the camera one can't help but picture David Brent sat behind his desk.
Existing fans of the comedy duo will there are laughs to be had just don’t be expecting another ground breaking television show.
I thought the show was OK but nothing special having seen the English version. It's very very similar to Extras and that's one thing that really makes me dislike the show. With The Office, Gervais had a new sort of idea with the whole mockumentary thing, with Extras it was a critique on celebrity culture and the cameos by stars were really neat. This show combines both and relies solely on Warwick's size to differentiate itself. A few smirks are to be had from this show but nothing great. I agree that the Liam Neeson scene was the best in the series.
With that said, Gervais/Merchant generally make shows that start off as light comedies and then evolve them into almost a drama. Time will tell if they can salvage this one but I am worried by how little new I see here.
In the UK, we have had the misfortune to have had the whole series (season) shown. As a Gervais/Marchant fan, I gave the first two episodes a good chance to entertain me. Sadly, I found myself remembering how great the Office & Extras are, and how poor this is in comparison.
I laughed once in the first two episodes. However, laughing at the Verne Troyer slapstick left me feeling a little dirty, whilst his mannerisms and monologues are identical to David Brent's self-delusion. I really felt there was no originality, and that the whole thing had been forced through as a vanity project for Gervais to show off his celebrity connections (which can be funny but are relied upon to prop up an otherwise very poor programme.)
In the brilliant Office, Brent quipped that Alton Towers was his biggest disappointment. Watching this show I felt like I knew exactly what he meant. Boring, predictable, self plagurisation (so many scenes from the Office re-hashed), far fetched, ridiculous are just some of the words to describe this effort of a show. I'm huge fans of Gervais and Merchant. The Office is perfect, Extras not so but still very good. Life's Too Short is an insult to the fans and viewers. Lazy and moronic. Most of the actors acting like Gervais. If you found Maggie's unbelievable stupidity irritating in Extras then Warricks assistant sinks to even lower levels, not to mention his accountant. Where are the real 3 dimensional characters, Tim and Dawn, everyone in this is a ****. Each episode needs to be saved by a cameo appearance or by Merchant & Gervais popping up who are undoubtedly funny. I really hope its not the case but this might be the start of the decline of Gervais and to a lesser extent Merchant who has taken off in Hollywood recently