Rather disappointed at the Gervais/Merchant new comedy, early days but last nights never really got going.
The Liam Neeson scene was the funniest by a mile, as most of the 2 Extras series best moments were when celebrities parodied themselves.
In the kitchen scene Warwick Davies just sounded like a small version of Andy Millman from extras.
It reminded me of a film I recently watched, Woody Allen's Vicky Christina Barcelona, the characters all mimiced Allen's dialogue, very weird.
Lets hope it improves.

Ricky Gervais is about as funny as the Tiger being extinct..

You not a fan Dot? You should have mentioned.


Yeh, gotta agree fox;

Last nights episode didnt set the pulse racing.
The Neeson element was very good, but up until that point... just wasnt doing anything for me.

I'll definitely persevere though, unlike Sleuth, I am a fan of Gervais/Merchant.

Good news, the Tiger is not extinct, Gervais will be relieved.

You Essex/City boys love a bit of this though dontcha

Like anyone's buying the conservationist angle

I thought Life's Too Short was hilarious. I don't know how they all kept a straight face during the Liam Neeson sketch.

I agree with you there. Warwick Davis sounded like Ricky Gervais, and in Midnight in Paris, to take another example, Owen Wilson sounds just like Woody Allen.

I thought it was great.

This is what Gervais does best. I can take or leave his stand up, or his Sky Tv shows, but he is a true comedy genius when it comes to situation comedy.

I agree, a promising start. Can't wait to see Johnny Depp!

Have to agree with Fox, the little guy seemed to mimic characters from the office and extras.

I did piss myself at the Neeson sketch but look for improvement in the next episodes.

I totally agree that Warren Davis' lines are too obviously Gervais. I do like RG but 'worry' that he's actually rather limited both as a writer and an actor.

I tend to forgive Woody Allen as he's now too old to play his staple neurotic, so I can understand him writing it for others - and he's proved repeatedly that he can write great parts for others, which I don't think Gervais will.

I did enjoy bits of last night's show, though. There were some nice moments; WD falling out of the Range Rover, the accountant's and the buzzer scenes spring to mind (our Barry was as drôle as ever) but the pacing of the episode was poor - undramatic.

It may get better now we've met the main characters but I fear I'm constantly going to be thinking of Ricky Gervais while watching Warwick Davis.

I watched the episode again and it was better than remembered;

There were more good bits than I first thought.

The Office was simply amazing, everyone's entitled to their opinion but never understood why anyone wouldn't think the same.

I suppose its fairer to judge this series on its own merits rather than to keep comparing it to Extras or The Office.
None of Noel Gallaghers work has stood up too well against his first 2 masterpieces.
You have to ask yourself, if this was RG's/SM's first stab at comedy, how funny is it?

I've just watched the making of the programme and the first episode and I think it could be a winner. Some of the up and coming clips looked hilarious.

Just wanted to add that I thought Rosamund Hanson was excellent as WD's apathetic new secretary. She was very good in 'This Is England', too.

Absolutely . If you have ever worked in an office, it's so easy to relate too. All those people exist in various guises (there's a lot of Gareth's and Finchy's in particular)

Extras was great too. For both series Gervais never made a third series, just a few specials, so avoiding the trap other comedy series have fallen into.

I enjoyed Life's Too Short. The casting off the funny talking (and looking girl) of This is England will no doubt give rise to some quality dialogue. Also loved the accountant. You can see borrowed bits of irony and awkardness in Warwick's character (some Brent, some Millman). Some of the sight gags were good, the bit where he stumbled out of his Landrover whilst talking about being dignified was a little gem

*edit as Flyman has pointed out above if I would have bothered to read the hole thread *

Finally caught this last night on iPlayer.

Thought it was really good and will be watching from now on. As already mentioned, some nice touches (the 50% tax thing was brilliant) and characters, I think it has real potential.

Watched it on nightshift, quite enjoyed it. Wasn't a fan of Extras mind so I'm not really comparing it with anything else.

Watched the 2nd show on catch up, it's hard to say what exactly it is but something is missing.
Could be the situations are just too contrived, the comedy just seems a bit stunted.
What makes good situation comedy is you can see those types of situations in every day life, or at least believe they are possible.
Last week to name one instance it was the bit outside Steve & Ricky's office, when the actor from phoneshop, acting as a random punter who Warwick asks to press the buzzer gets into a bizarre conversation.
This week it was the local press journo at the Star Wars convention, and the wedding. Too false and over the top.
It barely registered on the tittergram in the fox's box.

I think this weeks was a bit high on the cringe factor; plenty of uncomfortable squirming... Which i personally don't mind (although mrs zim doesn't).

Some good/cruel stuff though.

generally a thumbs up from me, obviously contrived and Warwick is just Gervais' puppet, but as a comedy the acid test is - did you laugh?, and I did

I missed the first ep, and hadn't heard good things so was pleasantly surprised by the 2nd - not up to the standards of the Office, but what is?

I enjoy the banter between Warwick and his secretary. Quality

Next weeks episode looks promising.

The Irish dancing bit was hilarious though I did feel a bit guilty for laughing.

one off drama called 'Derek' airs this week on channel 4

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/04 ... 98910.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17656633

2nd series of Life's too short uncertain...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/ma ... sfeed=true

I thought Derek was quite a good drama/comedy, well defined characters, a step back to the Office & Extras.
I understand this was a pilot, with possibly a series to come in the future.
Gervais was spot on with his character, its a fine line between mimicry and mockery and he stayed on the right side.
Not sure what the shows budget was, but very little was spent on Karl Pilkington's syrup, a poor version of Tom Cruise's in Tropic Thunder.
Hope there is more to follow.

well acted I thought. Some classic Gervais elements - the way it was filmed was very office like - with speaking to camera and the camera almost intruding on the action.

Also another repeat of a Tim/Dawn kind of storyline with the girlfriend.

All in all though worth 30 minutes of your time if you like his work.

Yes quite enjoyable. I believe he did a pilot-pilot a few years ago, and this is the first chance he has had to come back to it, and because the first pilot was for Channel 4, he said that it was theirs when he had the time to revisit it.

yeah, the original pilot was on youtube until recently...but can't find it now.