Loki Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 It's... it's a bit crap, really, isn't it? Gay jokes, dwarf jokes, disabled jokes. Somewhere along the line the "ironic" bit seems to have got lost and we're just laughing at gays, dwarves and the handicapped. Â Plus, as mentioned, they seem to have forgotten about it being a documentary apart from the looks into camera. Warwick is jealous of a BBC camera crew interviewing another dwarf? He's got a camera crew following him around! The director of the newspiece doesn't notice the other camera crew? They did the same thing last week at the convention, it completely breaks the internal logic. Â I really like Warwick Davis, and I think he's shown a shitload of acting chops in the series, but it's just... not that funny or that clever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Chilly McFreeze Posted November 25, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 25, 2011 The more I think about this series, the more flawed I realise it is. The looks to camera are like a laughing track. And like Loki says, there's no irony. All the hallmarks that made there work so watchable and credible are gone. Where's the characters for us to root for (Tim in the office, Andy in Extras.) Â I mean, a dwarf vomiting on his cock. What the hell is that? Surely no one enjoyed that. Â And most of all, there's absoultely no story. At all. Nothing that ties it all together. How could they put there name to something so stale and tired? It baffles me. It's basically 'When the whistle blows' come to life. They are a shitty catchphrase away from becoming everything they used to hate. (Actually, saying that, the 'looks to camera' could actually be the catchphrase.) Â And Gervais' reactions to any dot of criticism has the hallmarks of Andy Millman in Extras, becoming so precious about his work, and failing miserably to respond in the apporpriate way. He's having a meltdown on Twitter at the moment. At least Andy Millman had the self awarness to realise what he was doing was crap. Â Life imitates Art. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Miz Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 The most un documentary like part of the episode last night was when he went into the school. So many things were wrong with that. Such as when he went into the class room the teacher and the kids totally ignoring the fact that a camera crew was there. Oh and a camera crew being allowed into the Police Station. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members PunkStep Posted November 25, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 25, 2011 Add me to the list of 'I think I find her attractive but not sure why', regarding the assistant. It puzzled me all the way through last night's episode. She is superb in it though, stole last night's episode (which wasn't that good overall). Â "I'll squash you, you disgusting little creature." "Anything else?" "Fuck off." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Plus, as mentioned, they seem to have forgotten about it being a documentary apart from the looks into camera. Warwick is jealous of a BBC camera crew interviewing another dwarf? He's got a camera crew following him around! The director of the newspiece doesn't notice the other camera crew? They did the same thing last week at the convention, it completely breaks the internal logic. You're bang on, particularly in regards to the newspiece guy not noticing Warwick's crew (the bits where Warwick himself is mad for more coverage could be explained by how exposure-greedy he is). A lot of scenes are inconsistent with the supposed format. Picking apart the internal logic of mockumentary-style sitcoms would make Duanes of us all, though. It's a rabbit hole that you might never return from. The Office might have kept it realistic (though there are probably a million examples in it that refute that), but most of 'em don't. You just have to go with it, I think. If it's funny, it doesn't matter. And that's where Life's Too Short might run into trouble. I thought episode two was hilarious, but apart from the tent-bumming, I didn't think too much of last night's one at all. I actually love the concept of a pissed dwarf getting sick on his own cock in the police station as well, but in practise it didn't grab me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted November 25, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 25, 2011 Midget vomiting on his cock sounds like something Vince McMahon would have stuck on Raw in 2003. Not a compliment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Midget  Racist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted November 25, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 25, 2011 Midget  Racist. Tread carefully sweetheart or I'll get the lads to let the air out of your bike tyres, at the next wrestling event you attend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Duke Posted November 25, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 25, 2011 If the character is a twat, and is exclusively dealing with other twats, that twat is unrelatable and No one cares. It does feel like a progressing series it feels like a sketch show. Loli is correct when he says the irony is lost a bit, but Davis is such an I unlikeable cunt (in the series) that I don't root for him. If he's a dick and someone is equally dickish back, there's no humour there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Yeah, he's both the dicker and the dickee. He's looking at the camera in exasperation at someone's insensitivity in one scene, then in full on Brent mode in the next. It doesn't work. You need a straight man, like Tim in the office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Retro Red Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 I think Gervais is trying to get away with removing anyone likeable at all in his work as he goes on. Office had 2 redeeming character in Tim and Dawn, Extras had 1 in Maggie, whereas Life's Too Short has none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members tiger_rick Posted November 25, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 25, 2011 Haven't seen last nights yet. Thought Episode 2 was brilliant though, seriously funny. Agree with the point about him being put upon one minute and then being a dick the next but it didn't spoil it at all for me because it was really funny. I guess if the episode isn't funny, that sort of thing becomes far more obvious. If you don't enjoy something, you probably evaluate it more to work out why. Â As for no "redeeming" characters, i guess that's supposed to be Gervais and Merchant. Apart from not particularly wanting Warwick around, they haven't done a whole lot wrong. Best two scenes in the show have been the Neeson and Depp sequences in their office. Should have just made more Extra's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magnum Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 This for me falls into the 'just good enough to watch' category. It's no great shakes overall, but I pissed myself at things like Neeson's cameo and him popping up and down in a bin at the end of last night's. There seems to be a backlash against it among my facebook friends and various TV reviews I've read, but I'm wondering if people are being harsher simply because they're expecting something as good as Extras or The Office. It's certainly not as bad as some of the shite I've seen getting favourable reviews recently (I'm looking at rubbish like Him & Her and the very moderate, wallpaper comedy of Rev). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Duke Posted November 25, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted November 25, 2011 As for no "redeeming" characters, i guess that's supposed to be Gervais and Merchant. Apart from not particularly wanting Warwick around, they haven't done a whole lot wrong. Best two scenes in the show have been the Neeson and Depp sequences in their office. Should have just made more Extra's. Well, yeah. That's a part of why those jokes are so funny, Merchant and Gervais are the straight men in their little interludes. Â IT's like extras sandwiched between the office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Pitcos Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Has Him & Her really been getting good reviews? I watched several episodes of the first series of that and it was just awful, in some ways worse than Coming of Age. So far I've only managed the first episode of series one of Rev and I'm not sure I'll bother with any more. I might though, as the US sitcoms have had this week off (and possibly are off now until the Christmas specials?) so there's a gap in my comedy viewing that needs filled. I've downloaded Greg Davies' and Sarah Millican's (I know) stand-up DVDs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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