From Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (The Office, Extras) comes Life's Too Short, a "mockumentary" series starring Warwick Davis, best known for his work in the Star Wars franchise, particularly as both beloved and hated Wicket the Ewok. (And although Life makes no mention of it, I personally can't forget the image of Davis as the Leprechaun in the movie series of the same name, so bad that it's somehow fantastic.)
The joke of the series is Davis' ego is big as all outdoors despite his being unknown to the public at large. One very funny scene has Davis arguing with a passerby about his celebrity, with the man saying "Now if you say Verne Troyer, I know exactly who you mean!" Clearly, this is not a real documentary. Davis obviously has the courage and great humor to portray himself this way, and it works well, with his entire life falling apart around him while he continues to brag about his exploring new frontiers in his acting and agency "empire".
Davis has surrounded himself with a group of people with no clue what they are doing. His accountant (Steve Brody) can't do math, and hates to "argue with the tax people", and his administrative assistant (Rosamund Hanson) says her dream is to prove that the people who went to the moon really went there. But it's Gervais and Merchant who provide the hook for the show, as Davis drops by their office to constantly bother them for work, only to wind up in the middle of scenes with other celebrities pitching comedy. In the pilot episode, it's Liam Neeson who strong-arms them into doing improv with him, only to fail miserably at it. (And if you've seen the headline today "Liam Neeson tries and fails to do comedy", that headline is misleading. The idea of the scene is that Neeson is unfunny, but the scene itself is laugh out loud hilarious. Neeson proves once again that he can do anything.)
I thought the pilot was very funny, and I was glad to see an actor like Warwick Davis get a chance to show a new side of himself. Here's hoping Life's Too Short sticks around for a long while.
Rating: 3.5/5 Recommendation: Check it out! (And check out my other reviews at clarketaculargeek.wordpress.com!)
The joke of the series is Davis' ego is big as all outdoors despite his being unknown to the public at large. One very funny scene has Davis arguing with a passerby about his celebrity, with the man saying "Now if you say Verne Troyer, I know exactly who you mean!" Clearly, this is not a real documentary. Davis obviously has the courage and great humor to portray himself this way, and it works well, with his entire life falling apart around him while he continues to brag about his exploring new frontiers in his acting and agency "empire".
Davis has surrounded himself with a group of people with no clue what they are doing. His accountant (Steve Brody) can't do math, and hates to "argue with the tax people", and his administrative assistant (Rosamund Hanson) says her dream is to prove that the people who went to the moon really went there. But it's Gervais and Merchant who provide the hook for the show, as Davis drops by their office to constantly bother them for work, only to wind up in the middle of scenes with other celebrities pitching comedy. In the pilot episode, it's Liam Neeson who strong-arms them into doing improv with him, only to fail miserably at it. (And if you've seen the headline today "Liam Neeson tries and fails to do comedy", that headline is misleading. The idea of the scene is that Neeson is unfunny, but the scene itself is laugh out loud hilarious. Neeson proves once again that he can do anything.)
I thought the pilot was very funny, and I was glad to see an actor like Warwick Davis get a chance to show a new side of himself. Here's hoping Life's Too Short sticks around for a long while.
Rating: 3.5/5 Recommendation: Check it out! (And check out my other reviews at clarketaculargeek.wordpress.com!)