Life's Too Short (TV Series)
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''Life's Too Short'' is a British
mockumentary A mockumentary (a portmanteau of ''mock'' and ''documentary'') is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events, but presented as a Documentary film, documentary. Mockumentaries are often used to analyze or comment on current event ...
sitcom created and written by
Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, television producer and filmmaker. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003) ...
and
Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, writer, director, and actor. He was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003), and co-writer ...
, and starring Warwick Davis, about "the life of a showbiz
dwarf Dwarf, dwarfs or dwarves may refer to: Common uses *Dwarf (folklore), a supernatural being from Germanic folklore * Dwarf, a human or animal with dwarfism Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a sh ...
." Davis plays a fictionalised version of himself, and both Gervais and Merchant appear in supporting roles as themselves. The show began airing on
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
on 10 November 2011. Premium cable channel
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
, which co-produced the series with the BBC, has the US rights and aired the series from 19 February 2012. In January 2013, it was announced that ''Life's Too Short'' would end later in the year with a special that would bring the series' closure. The one-hour special aired on 30 March 2013 in the UK and 5 July 2013 in the US.


Background

The genesis of the show was when Davis worked with Gervais and Merchant in an episode of the second series of '' Extras'', in which he co-starred with
Daniel Radcliffe Daniel Jacob Radcliffe (born 23 July 1989) is an English actor. Radcliffe rose to fame at age twelve for portraying the title character in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He starred in all eight films in the series, from '' Harry Potter a ...
. Gervais said that Davis is funny in real life and tells great stories. Merchant said that Davis helped create the idea. Gervais and Merchant approached the BBC about developing a show centred on a character based on Davis.
The real Warwick tells us these great stories. They're comedy gold. (The show) is a cross between '' Extras'' and ''
Curb Your Enthusiasm ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', also known colloquially simply as ''Curb'', is an American television comedy of manners created by Larry David that premiered on HBO with an hour-long special in October 17, 1999, followed by 12 seasons broadcast from Oc ...
'' and ''
One Foot in the Grave ''One Foot in the Grave'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom written by David Renwick. There were six series (each consisting of six half-hour episodes) and seven Christmas specials over a period of ten years from early 1990 to late ...
'' but with a dwarf. That is out and out funny."
In the programme, Davis runs a small person's talent agency and plays a twisted version of himself; quite conceited, arrogant and manipulative. He is supposedly doing a documentary to improve his career, and because he is going through a messy divorce and needs the money. Davis bugs Gervais and Merchant about whether they have any work, much to their annoyance. In an interview with Jonathan Ross, Davis said that his character is egotistical and suffers from small man syndrome, Gervais said of the character
He refuses to live his life as a disabled person. We're making him empowered but also give him these foibles. Third in our trilogy of TV sitcoms … another naturalist observational comedy, dealing with everyday problems, human foibles and social faux pas … but with a dwarf.


Cast


Main

* Warwick Davis as Himself *
Ricky Gervais Ricky Dene Gervais ( ; born 25 June 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer, television producer and filmmaker. He co-created, co-wrote, and acted in the British television sitcoms ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003) ...
as Himself *
Stephen Merchant Stephen James Merchant (born 24 November 1974) is an English comedian, writer, director, and actor. He was the co-writer and co-director of the British TV comedy series ''The Office (British TV series), The Office'' (2001–2003), and co-writer ...
as Himself * Rosamund Hanson as Cheryl Wilkins * Steve Brody as Eric Biddle, Warwick's accountant and lawyer


Recurring

* Jo Enright as Sue, Warwick's ex-wife and Ian's girlfriend * Shaun Williamson as Himself * Matthew Holness as Ian, Sue's boyfriend and lawyer *
Les Dennis Leslie Dennis Heseltine (born 12 October 1953) is an English television presenter, actor and comedian. He presented '' Family Fortunes'' from 1987 to 2002. Early life Dennis was born as Leslie Dennis Heseltine on 12 October 1953 in the Liv ...
as Himself * Keith Chegwin as Himself


Cameo appearances

*
Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...
(episode 1) *
Johnny Depp John Christopher Depp II (born June 9, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Johnny Depp, multiple accolades, including a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for ...
(episode 2) *
Helena Bonham Carter Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, List of awards and nominations received by Helena Bonham Carter ...
(episode 3) * Right Said Fred (episode 4) * Steve Carell (episode 4) *
Ramin Karimloo Ramin Karimloo (; ; born ) is a Canadian actor, singer, and songwriter known for his work on the West End theatre, West End and Broadway theatre, Broadway theatre. He has played the leading roles in both of the West End's longest running musica ...
(episode 5) *
Cat Deeley Catherine Elizabeth Deeley (born 23 October 1976) is an English television presenter. She is currently the main co-presenter for ITV's '' This Morning'', alongside Ben Shephard. Deeley began her career as a co-presenter of the ITV children' ...
(episode 6) *
Ewen MacIntosh Ewen Douglas MacIntosh (25 December 1973 – 19 February 2024) was a Welsh actor known for his role as Keith Bishop in '' The Office'' (2001–2003). Early life MacIntosh was born in Merionethshire, Wales on 25 December 1973. He was educated ...
(episode 6) * Sting (episode 7) * Sophie Ellis-Bextor (episode 7) *
Val Kilmer Val Edward Kilmer (December 31, 1959 – April 1, 2025) was an American actor. Initially a stage actor, he later found fame as a Leading actor, leading man in films in a wide variety of genres, including Comedy film, comedies, dramas, action fi ...
(episode 8)


Episodes


Series 1 (2011)


Special (2013)


Development

Gervais first mentioned ''Life's Too Short'' on his blog in February 2010, when he and Merchant were writing and casting the project. They would go on to select Warwick Davis for the lead role after a number of auditions. The pilot for the comedy was commissioned by the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
in April 2010. Gervais reported on progress in his blog. In April 2010 he stated, "Some reports are saying that the ''Life's Too Short'' pilot we are shooting in the summer will be aired. It wont . It is a non-broadcast pilot. We will shoot the whole series before anything is aired. We're not sure how many eps pisodeswe will record (probably 6) and not sure when the series will air." Gervais wrote on his blog in June 2010 that they had "Found the last location today for ''Life's Too Short''. It feels great doing this project. Just like ''The Office'' and ''Extras''. Starting from scratch, just me and Steve in a room crafting a brand new show. It doesn't get better than that for me." He later wrote that filming of the pilot was undertaken in June and July 2010. While talking at the Banff World Media Festival in July 2010, Gervais described ''Life's Too Short'' as "the funniest thing we've done". Gervais told ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' "We're having so much fun working with Warwick. Pound for pound he is one of the funniest men I know." Stephen Merchant said of Davis: "Warwick is very funny, a very physical comedian which we really made use of … He's very charismatic, very charming in it … I was really pleased. He's a real comic star in waiting." Gervais went on to say that they had "Finished the pilot for ''Life's Too Short'' too. Just have to write the series now". The series was produced by Charlie Hanson, who previously produced '' Extras'', and Michelle Farr. Gervais and Merchant were executive producers, along with Mark Freeland. On 17 September 2010 the BBC announced, via the BBC Two Controller Janice Hadlow and the Controller of BBC Comedy Commissioning Cheryl Taylor, that the six-part series had been commissioned and filmed in 2011. Gervais reported in his blog on the progress of writing ''Life's Too Short'' throughout November 2010: "Had a great week writing ''Life's Too Short''. It's the hardest bit, the most important bit and the most invigorating bit", and in a later entry "Wrote one of the funniest sketches we've ever done for ''Life's Too Short''. Six hours hard labour for a potential two minutes screen time." In January 2011 he reported that he was still working on the scripts for the show, and in February that he and Merchant were trying to finish writing the series. In March 2011 Gervais reported on his blog "Getting ready to film ''Life's Too Short''." Merchant confirmed that filming would begin in May 2011. Cast members included Jo Enright, who played Davis' wife in the pilot, Shaun Williamson, who played himself (known as " Barry off ''
EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...
''") in '' Extras'',
Cat Deeley Catherine Elizabeth Deeley (born 23 October 1976) is an English television presenter. She is currently the main co-presenter for ITV's '' This Morning'', alongside Ben Shephard. Deeley began her career as a co-presenter of the ITV children' ...
, Rosamund Hanson, Kiruna Stamell and Jamie Dodd. Boxer
Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed between 1985 and 2024. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "the Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson i ...
also asked Gervais to consider casting him in a role. On 31 March Gervais confirmed on his blog that "We've basically got first drafts of all seven episodes of ''Life's Too Short'' now. Yes seven!". As the pilot had already been filmed, the series would comprise eight shows. On 1 April he stated "Started casting ''Life's Too Short'' this week too. So much fun." On 29 April he wrote "Did the last of the casting today on ''Life's Too Short''. Some amazing cameos too. You know about the ohnnyDepp one, but hopefully we might be able to keep a couple of the other really big ones under wraps. Not just because of the surprise factor but because it takes the focus away from the real meat of the show." On 11 May the cast had their first
read-through The read-through, table-read, or table work is a stage of film, television, radio, and theatre production when an organized reading of the screenplay or script is conducted around a table by the actors with speaking parts. In addition to the ...
of all seven episodes, and rehearsals started on the week beginning 16 May 2011 with Gervais commenting "We've put together an amazing cast so it should be a joy." Filming started on 30 May 2011. On 22 June 2011 it was announced that Sting and Steve Carell would be filming cameos for the series. The teaser trailer released on the same day featured Keith Chegwin,
Les Dennis Leslie Dennis Heseltine (born 12 October 1953) is an English television presenter, actor and comedian. He presented '' Family Fortunes'' from 1987 to 2002. Early life Dennis was born as Leslie Dennis Heseltine on 12 October 1953 in the Liv ...
and Shaun Williamson as well as the three main stars. On 11 July Gervais hinted on his blog that a ''
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''-related cameo would be in the show, as well as posting a link to a YouTube video of him and Davis filmed on the set of ''Life's Too Short''. Earlier in that week he had blogged about how "
Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2 ...
's favourite character from ''The Office'' will make a cameo in ''Life's Too Short''", along with an on-set photograph of actor Ewen MacIntosh who played Big Keith in ''
The Office ''The Office'' is the title of several mockumentary sitcoms based on a British series originally created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant as '' The Office'' in 2001. The original series also starred Gervais as manager and primary charac ...
''. Principal filming ran for eight weeks ending on 22 July 2011. Gervais and Davis attended a question and answer session to discuss the making of ''Life's Too Short'' at the
Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...
in August 2011. A half-hour-long documentary, ''The Making of Life's Too Short'', aired on
BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
and
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on 5 November 2011, prior to the start of the series run. After the first series finished airing, Gervais confirmed via Twitter that a second series had been commissioned for early 2013. Gervais joked on his blog, "We are thinking of going straight to the Xmas Special. Lazier and lazier. Now it's down to ONE series and a special. Ha ha." The series finale premiered on 5 July 2013 in the US on HBO.


Home media

''Life's Too Short'' was released on DVD and
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
on 22 October 2012 in the UK, 7 November 2012 in Australia and on 15 January 2013 in the US. ''The Special'' was released onto DVD in the UK on 2 February 2015.


Reception


UK critical response

In the United Kingdom the first series received mostly mixed reviews. Rachel Tarley, of ''Metro'', described the show as "tripe" while David Butcher of the ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'' introduced his review of episode six with "another week, another queasy mix of comedy and unpleasantness." Many reviews were deeply critical of the writing – Gwilym Mumford of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' felt that writers Gervais and Merchant were "on autopilot", referring to the programme as "strikingly lazy stuff, little more than a predictable checklist of taboos and social faux pas", and journalist for ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' Robert Epstein likewise branded it "shoddily derivative" and potentially degrading. T.J. Barnard, writing for ''
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'', called the show "a mess. It's aimless, indulgent, self-plagiarizing and cold." However, ''Metro''s review of episode 7 was slightly more positive saying "''Life's Too Short'' bowed out tonight with an episode that was more than marginally better than the six previous offerings, not only was the plot stronger than in previous weeks, but there were some genuinely funny scenes too, most notably a discussion between Gervais and Merchant about charity. And Steve Brody as Warwick's ineffectual giggly/depressive accountant continued to shine." More positive reviews could be found in ''The Telegraph'', where Gerald O'Donovan praised the show for its "belly laughs and cringe-making moments." Likewise, Caroline Frost of ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'' applauded both the writing and the acting following the first episode, proclaiming that though it could easily have overreached, "Gervais and Merchant have pulled another one out of the hat." While the first episode rated strongly in the UK, the ratings dropped by 40% in the following week, and by the fifth episode the overnight ratings had dropped below a million, to 997,000—35% down on the average audience for its timeslot in the UK. Critical reaction to the Easter special was more positive, Dan Owen of ''msn.tv'' said "this Easter special was one of Life's Too Short's better episodes and provided enough laughs and fun to please most viewers." He felt that the special felt like a new pilot for the show that "fixed a few problems." He felt that Keith Chegwin, Shaun Williamson and Les Dennis were the funniest parts of the hour. Overall he gave the special 3 stars out of five. The ''Metro'' agreed saying, "there were laughs to be had here, mainly from the antics of Williamson, Chegwin and Dennis." The Guardian praised the episode and called it "a piece of genius" and admired it for being "done with such a breathtaking boldness." Harry Venning of ''The Stage'' gave a positive review of the first series also gave a positive review of the special "My favourite comedy of 2011 enjoyed a last hurrah. Sadly, it looks as though there will be no second series." He felt that Rosamund Hanson provided scene-stealing support as dippy secretary Cheryl. He concluded that overall ''Life's Too Short'' was "Painfully poignant, beautifully played and constantly inventive, this one-hour special conclusively proved that ''Life's Too Short''s own end was also premature."


US critical response

In the United States, the show received generally positive reviews. At
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a
weighted mean The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the show received an
average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...
score of 63, based on 14 reviews, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews". On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the show holds a rating of 55% based on 33 critics, with the consensus reading: "''Life's Too Short'' is enjoyably crass, but borrows heavily from Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's previous work."


References


External links


''Life's Too Short''
RickyGervais.com * * {{HBONetwork Shows 2011 British television series debuts 2013 British television series endings 2010s British sitcoms BBC television sitcoms HBO sitcoms 2010s British satirical television series British mockumentary television series Metafictional television series British English-language television shows Television series created by Ricky Gervais Television series created by Stephen Merchant Television shows about disability