The 'Life's Too Short' Thread

[nicholls]

But if Eastbound is what happens when you invest in idiosyncratic imagination, Life’s Too Short is the result of flattering it until it festers into pure ego. On The Office, Ricky Gervais minted a particular strain of awkward, observational humor with his clueless character as the deliverer of all the (wonderfully) bad jokes and the butt of all the best ones. Now, he’s fobbed off David Brent’s puffed-up self-regard and mockumentary humiliation onto the tiny, non-load-bearing shoulders of Warwick Davis. Best known as the lead in Willow — a justly forgotten fantasy film that, bizarrely, also gets a shout-out in next week’s Eastbound — Davis stars in this misguided Brit-com as a venal, desperate version of himself. Freed from beneath a suffocating cloak of Ewok fur, Davis reveals himself to be a good sport, but his show isn’t nearly as charming as he is, swinging clumsily between cheap size cracks and sub-Office cringes. Worst of all is the presence of executive producer Gervais himself, no longer the source of any comedy, but floating high above it, a smug arbiter of disdain and craven celebrity trolling. Seated strangely behind a glass desk with writing partner Stephen Merchant, the increasingly intolerable star is still preening, only we’re not meant to laugh at him, merely with him at all the terrible, desperate people who arrive at his office like penitents hoping to wash their feet in his BAFTA-riddled Ganges.

That some of these A-listers deliver, such as an outrageously deadpan Liam Neeson, hoping to tackle comedy with the same bullheaded intensity usually reserved for hunting deadly wolves, is practically beside the point. (It’s also, judging by Johnny Depp’s breathless cameo in Episode 2, an outlier.) If Ricky Gervais merely wanted to make funny videos with his friends, he could use Vimeo like the rest of us. By shoehorning these backscratching sessions into a series ostensibly about Warwick Davis, it reveals how barren this shtick has become, too obsequious of celebrity to mock it and too dependent on it to make a show without leaning on it like an attention-grabbing crutch. More than ever, Eastbound shows us how an asshole can be hilarious. Life’s Too Short starts with a formerly funny comedian and then pulls the same trick in reverse.

All of this.



Haven't started watching the 3rd season of Eastbound but I'm excited!

[Clive]

1/4 star review.

Ricky Gervais's career is beginning to feel a lot like the plot of a Ricky Gervais show.

http://www.slantmagazine.com/tv/review/lifes-too-short-season-one/311

[shawnadancing]

*sigh* I wanted you all to be wrong. I had high hopes that you all were just hard to please. I thought I could look beyond the similarities LTS had with The Office & Extras. I can't. It's as if Warwick studied Ricky's every move, every way he lingers on certain words. The accountant is the Agent & Brent. The secretary chick is a cartoon character (not because of her Nigel-like chin, but her personality). This should have just been a sketch comedy show based around celebs popping into Gervais' office. That was bit I laughed at as well. Well, I did laugh at Warwick falling out of a car. I have a feeling that will get old.

Gervais,
I get it. I know you would like to think I don't, but I do. I get that he has a complex, that he's a twisted version of himself. I don't just see a dwarf being exploited. Maybe it's not as bad I think it is. I just cannot get over the fact that it's a cheesy & bad Office/Extras remake. It's not fun seeing you as the straight man & Steve as your quiet sidekick. I'm a little sad that this won't be timeless like The Office.
Better luck next time. Just please don't start with the title again. I don't think The Rice is Right or Ricktuals will go over well either. Haters gonna hate, or whatever.

[Bret]

Well I've turned over a new leaf; I think The Rice is Right will be great and I'm looking forward to it.

[Kasaraki]

The metacritic page baffles the mind.

[TooMuchLyingLow]

The metacritic page baffles the mind.

63 seems fair considering that reviews of movies, TV, albums etc. are generally high. I'd say that a 70 in an arts review is the equivalent of the school system's 50% "pass vs fail" line

[jacktheripper]

I have to say thank you all for this thread. I haven't been posting here for years though I have logged on from time to time to read. Anyway I'm a deceased diehard fan and was immediately concerned by how quickly LTS had been made, from conception to airing. My fears were confirmed by the total lack of consideration it gave to the defining soundbite Gervais kept plugging it with - "This reflects the new type of docu soap where celebrities live their life like an open wound." Hearing the annoying stock music violin intro made me realise instantly this had missed its mark.

Everything I think about the show has been said before here but I have been really lost as a fan for some time now, even before LTS. I was not a fan of IOL because of shoddy writing, and while CJ had some good moments I felt it had some lazy moments too. LTS has cemented this doubt for me, I have gone from thinking AIA was a sideline thing not to be taken too seriously to regarding it as the best TV thing they have done since Extras. However, I still laugh at stuff Ricky does outside of his actual work (ex. AIA obviously) and I will always respect him in a way.

My point for posting this was just to say thank you, I've read through this entire thread from the start and it has made me laugh harder than LTS ever did. It has been carthatic and comforting to know that the true fans (aka people who know the XFM shows like a priest knows a bible) share my opinion and that I was not being overly cynical, judgemental or too stupid to "get" it. It is amazing that so much joy has come from so much hate and this is the only good thing to come from LTS as R+S have trampled over their former TV work. Only the podcasting/audio/Karl left to destroy now, they came close with The Guides but not quite.

Thanks again folks. As for America, I don't think they'll like it enough to even let it fly under the radar.

[mars bah bah bah]

Great post, and WB. I too have received much solace from sharing thoughts about LTS with others here. Never really thought about it from the angle you presented. I just let it wind me up, but the thorough deconstruction of the show herein really does contain a few lessons and laughs.

[BritishHobo]

Went back and had a look at the rest of the thread inspired by that (great) post, and found this:

There was a thing in the guardian guide today interviewing some little people because of Life's too short, they were saying they thought it might actually show the day to day life of a dwarf, paying bills and that without taking the piss too much, quite a good little read.

Depressing.

[Kasaraki]

The metacritic page baffles the mind.

63 seems fair considering that reviews of movies, TV, albums etc. are generally high. I'd say that a 70 in an arts review is the equivalent of the school system's 50% "pass vs fail" line

Ahh, in that case it makes more sense! Can't say I often look at metacritic, so to me 63 translates more or less directly to 6,3/10 or so, which seems like it's very high (Especially if I translate it further to fit with school grades here in Denmark, where you pass with 02, fail with 00, and 7 is considered average and just above average). But if that's the case, 63 does seem very fair. :)

[nicholls]

Considering how shoddy the show is and how little original material seemed to go into it, just like the animated cartoon on HBO, I think Rick should be happy with that.

I'm sure people who weren't interested in Ricky's work before and seemed to enjoy LTS will get a bit of a shock if they ever watch The Office. LTS seems like it would appeal to the 'I don't get it' demographic.

[You Are Joking]

I have to say thank you all for this thread. I haven't been posting here for years though I have logged on from time to time to read. Anyway I'm a deceased diehard fan and was immediately concerned by how quickly LTS had been made, from conception to airing. My fears were confirmed by the total lack of consideration it gave to the defining soundbite Gervais kept plugging it with - "This reflects the new type of docu soap where celebrities live their life like an open wound." Hearing the annoying stock music violin intro made me realise instantly this had missed its mark.

Everything I think about the show has been said before here but I have been really lost as a fan for some time now, even before LTS. I was not a fan of IOL because of shoddy writing, and while CJ had some good moments I felt it had some lazy moments too. LTS has cemented this doubt for me, I have gone from thinking AIA was a sideline thing not to be taken too seriously to regarding it as the best TV thing they have done since Extras. However, I still laugh at stuff Ricky does outside of his actual work (ex. AIA obviously) and I will always respect him in a way.

My point for posting this was just to say thank you, I've read through this entire thread from the start and it has made me laugh harder than LTS ever did. It has been carthatic and comforting to know that the true fans (aka people who know the XFM shows like a priest knows a bible) share my opinion and that I was not being overly cynical, judgemental or too stupid to "get" it. It is amazing that so much joy has come from so much hate and this is the only good thing to come from LTS as R+S have trampled over their former TV work. Only the podcasting/audio/Karl left to destroy now, they came close with The Guides but not quite.

Thanks again folks. As for America, I don't think they'll like it enough to even let it fly under the radar.

To me, this hits the nail on the head. There might be a bit of soul searching going on since Ricky bitched about people complaining (even though offence is taken, not given, yeah?) but I think this forum showed its strength at the time of LTS. I watched the first episode and was, obviously, lost in feelings of dejection and despair, minus of course the Liam Neeson Exception. The very first thing I did was look up Pilkipedia to see what people thought. Ok, I'm far from a hardcore member of pilkipedia or anything, but I knew this was where I'd find out what the real fans think, and it was such an incredibly reassuring and cathartic thing to see what other people who actually get (as opposed to twitter Ricky's current conception of "get") their comedy at its best thought. I love reading the RSK forum as a massive XFM nerd, and likewise for The Office and Extras. To me, it's an amazing thing that the people who loved this stuff spoke their true feelings about Life's Too Short. Maybe Ricky thinks it's a bunch of nerds ego tripping by competing over who liked stuff first, and rejecting anything new - let him think that. Maybe a handful of gimps turn up whining about "errr you're slagging off Ricky errrrr" - let them. To me, having this place where you can get an honest opinion from people who love their stuff as much as you do is incredible. So fuck em.

[Jenson's Beard]

I think the main thing is we were only being honest. If anything, the agenda before LTS was pushing towards it (hopefully) being brilliant. When it didn't happen, there was no point trying to fool ourselves into thinking otherwise. As much as it maybe annoyed Ricky that the website didn't like it overall, I think it's better that we didn't go for the pure sycophancy... I'm not sure I'd have liked this place if it was like that. Instead, we not only spoke about it's trouble, but there are some wonderful posts explaining some of the problems with the show. At first, it was one of those "This isn't right, but I can't quite work out why" things, but having people explain the differences and the issues with the show is quite reassuring.

But yeah, I'm glad that I wasn't going mental and there really was something that we mutually agreed to be off about LTS.

[hujsh]

After finishing watching LTS I read the posts in this thread from the season premier onwards (cause i'm a teenager with nothing better to do Mr Gervais) and while some of the reactions to this show were somewhat hyperbolic I must admit i laughed more often and harder at some of the witty posts of you Pilkipedians than i did at the season LTS.

The washing machine skit was definitely infuriating and highlighted the deeper problem of having unrealistic characters doing things just cause it'll be funny (Cheryl must be a special needs child). Similarly Amy took Warrick back without any real reason (and apologized to him at the end, WTF). Also I'd have liked more focus on one of Warricks tax bill, his agency, the society or his relationship with Amy (would have to introduce her earlier) to introduce some focus to the story instead of having multiple potential story lines not really go anywhere

That said I'd still watch it long before 2 and a Half Men, Mike and Molly (anything created by that guy actually) and insert other shitcoms here.

Ps. I've never seen any kid in a wheelchair or with any other disability get picked on. Maybe it's because I've grown up in a different environment to R+S but that was another departure from reality for me.

[BritishHobo]

I'm not sure if I'll ever understand the scene with the kid in the wheelchair. I just don't get who's supposed to be the arsehole there. It's not like an Extras scene where he's picking on some random disabled kid, the kid has already been mocking him for his dwarfism. And it's not like he knew the kid was in a wheelchair.

It just makes no sense, they have this situation set up where Warwick is so childish he tracks the kid down to embarrass him... and then they just add this completely unnecessary thing of the kid being disabled, and then the other kids bullying him. What's the joke there?

It's really weird how fucking obsessed with disabilities Gervais is.