Life's Too Short

2011

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1
  • 0
7.5| TV-MA| en| More Info
Released: 10 November 2011 Ended
Producted By: Backlash Productions
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012csf6
Info

Life's Too Short is a British sitcom mockumentary created and written by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant from an idea by Warwick Davis, and is as described by Gervais, about "the life of a showbiz dwarf".

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Backlash Productions

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Life's Too Short Audience Reviews

Cubussoli Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Solemplex To me, this movie is perfection.
Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.
charlesxabier I 'm not going to comment much about this tv show. Just telling it is one of the few tv shows I've revisited more frquently. I only regret they didn't continue with another season.
Prismark10 With Extras finished Gervais and Merchant wanted to mine the same path. This time Gervais & Merchant play a version of themselves as some sort of comedy producers/agents with Warwick Davis as a showbiz dwarf, rather egoistical and selfish but also fallen on hard times.It is a mockumentary and rather absurdist. Davis is not likable and we think his heart is in the right place although as a talent agent for other dwarfs he takes the best acting parts for himself. Its hard to sympathise for him but easier to cringe although Davis does offer a lot of physical comedy.There is also the sidebar of Gervais and Merchant with his usual team of Les Dennis, Keith Chegwin and Barry from Eastenders who are joined by a star cameo each week such as Liam Neeson popping up wanting more comedy parts which is a throwback to their previous series 'Extras.'Still like Extras there is enough to make it work, the cameos are amusing, Davis is entertaining as he bravely soldiers on and his hapless accountant provides the laughs.The show only lasted one series and was wrapped up in a special one off episode where Val Kilmer turned up as Batman and Davis is softened up slightly and understands the need to be less selfish.
mark-newman-1 (A minor spoiler foots this review.)There are enough comments on here that do the series fair credit but this is a review of the special that aired in March 2013.It's the best episode so far and is an hour long. Warwick Davis, a brief appearance by Gervais and Merchant, a splendid performance by Val Kilmer and the trio of England's supposed heroes of a past era of TV entertainment (Shaun Williamson, Les Dennis and Keith Chegwin) join forces with the brain dead secretary and dreadful accountant to deliver a laugh out loud treat......but the real screaming genius of this episode is Keith Chegwin. Why on earth he isn't signed up for more acting performances and comedy roles is anyone's guess, but in this episode of Life's Too Short he owns the whole show. His face can convey more laughs when it isn't even moving than probably any other actor working today. If he doesn't get some kind of a nod during the awards season then there is an injustice going on.His teaming and timing with Williamson and Dennis is masterly and the three of them provide a showcasing of talent. There's more comedic genius in these three than there is in the entire casts of the all the dreadful situation comedies that have been churned out on TV in the last five years. I can think of no exceptions.Also - Gervais and Merchant show that they have lost none of their ingeniousness when they are writing together... long may they run.(SPOILER!)My only quibble was the way that our three heroes turned their backs on Warwick at the end... however it was a move that propelled the whole wrap up so I suppose I can't complain.
Smithee There are definitely laughs going on here but I can't help thinking most of them are in-house with Messrs G and M sharing them behind the scenes at the viewers' expense.If the deliberate intention was to present this series as a skewed rehash / reworking of situations, lines and characters from what's gone before it (The Office and Extras) then I think it succeeded on that particular level.With this and a second series in the pipeline some might say that perhaps it's a clever way to wrap up a trilogy? Perhaps.Overall though a disappointment for me.The series lacked that writing masterclass spark that I have come to expect from two of Britain's greatest ever comic writers.All is not lost: I didn't like the first series of Extras too much but now consider it a classic.Here's hoping the second series of "Life's Too Short" moves up a gear and that I'm not left with the feeling that Messrs G & M wrote this in a hurry because they had other things to do with their valuable time.