Life's too short is the latest offering from comedy duo Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, but can it stand up to their previous work? If Episode 1 is anything to go by then...not quite. But it is still an entertaining show.
Life's Too Short is a cross between the duo's last two series' Extras and The Office. It's filmed like a documentary (like The Office), but instead of being filmed in an office, it revolves around the life of Warwick Davis - an actor with dwarfism who has appeared in films like Harry Potter and Star Wars, as well as guest starring in an episode of Extras - but who has recently found himself struggling for work (like Extras).
This first episode gives us an insight into Warwick's life. We find out that his career isn't the only thing going badly in his life, and that he also has his own dwarf acting agency.
This is a solid concept and is done fairly well, but there doesn't seem to be as many funny or cringe-worthy moments in this series, unlike previous offerings from Merchant and Gervais.
They try to recreate the face-palm moments from Extras that made the series painful yet entertaining to watch, but can't quite do it. Instead these moments are just a little tedious, and I just wanted them to get on with the rest of the show.
But, while the funny moments don't come quite as fast as they used to, Life's Too Short definitely did have funny parts.
Highlights for me had to be the interview Warwick has with his new secretary (played by Rosamund Hanson), who is written for perfectly and is one character I look forward to seeing again.
Also, this week's guest star Liam Neeson comes in at the end and steals the show. He offers the episode's only real, laugh-out-loud moments, but almost doesn't get used enough.
Gervais and Merchant themselves are in Life's Too Short as well, but they don't get much screen time either, and the only time the two really shine are during Neeson's cameo part. This would have been okay, but I found Warwick himself to be a pretty uninteresting character unlike Andy Millman and David Brent were.
But generally Life's Too Short is a pretty funny program, albeit one that fails to be as good as Gervais and Merchant's previous creations. Although, it is definitely still worth watching and a show I'll be sticking with for at least another week.
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