Life’s Too Short: The Complete First Season

LIFE’S TOO SHORT had an odd effect on me. The series is a very run-of-the-mill, un-noteworthy faux reality show in the vein of ENTOURAGE and EXTRAS from the minds of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (who created the original BBC version of THE OFFICE) and star Warwick Davis (best known as Wicket the Ewok from RETURN OF THE JEDI and Professor Flitwick in the HARRY POTTER series.) On the surface it was rather clumsily written with barely defined secondary characters and weekly stories (and even a series arc) that doesn’t particularly go anywhere. But I found that I couldn’t stop watching it. I burned through the entire series in a single sitting and barely felt the time pass. Willow Ufgood must still have some magic up his sleeve!

LIFE’S TOO SHORT is a brief seven episode series that follows a fictionalized version of Davis, a little person who has been in some big movies that has given him a gigantic ego. He has hired a reality film crew to document his life in hopes of reviving his completely stagnant career. When we first meet Davis we discover his wife is in the process of divorcing him; he owes a massive 250,000 pounds in back taxes; his flailing talent agency for fellow little people is more aimed at getting him work and nobody really knows who he is, even actors he has previously worked with. The only true constant in his life are his “friends” Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant (playing fictionalized versions of themselves), who only barely tolerate him, and his completely worthless accountant, Eric (Steve Brody) who comically destroys everything in Davis’ life he comes in contact with.

Like the aforementioned ENTOURAGE, LIFE’S TOO SHORT features cameos by several celebrities playing bizarrely comic versions of themselves (from Liam Neeson, Johnny Depp and Sting to Cat Deeley and Right Said Fred.) However most of these appearances feel forced (only Sting and Deeley really feel naturally mixed in with the story of the episode) even though they are really fun to watch (Neeson wins the hysterical cameo award here). This is ultimately what brings LIFE’S TOO SHORT down from “Must See TV” to “If There’s Nothing Else On TV”: the characters and situations all feel forced. It’s as if Gervais and Merchant had a checklist of things to do each episode (1. Height jokes and situations revolving around Davis’ height 2. Davis’ ego destroys his personal and professional life in some way 3. Davis visits Gervais and Merchant to ask for work/borrow money 4. At least one big celebrity cameo) and whatever else is needed to get to a 30 minute episode is just filling. There are very few honestly earned laughs in the series but plenty of chuckles and enough light humor to make the time go by quickly. Very quickly it turned out.

THE DISC:
The anamorphic 1.78 transfer is serviceable. Colors are well saturated and detail is acceptable. Nothing exceptionally stands out nor should it as the series needs to have an overly realistic look to it.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is also decent. Dialogue is clear although the accents sometimes are not (Rosamund Hanson may be delightfully funny as Davis’ blasé secretary but she is sometimes extremely difficult to understand. Thankfully there are subtitles available.) Environments are spacious but more often than not the locations are small interiors. Overall there is nothing to really complain about or particularly compliment on the technical front.

THE EXTRAS:
The supplement package kicks off with a full half hour documentary originally produced to introduce the series in the UK: “The Making of LIFE’S TOO SHORT.” Gervais, Merchant and Davis give us a nice overview of the series and what to expect complete with loads of behind the scenes footage.
About 10 and a half minutes of “Deleted Scenes” are worth checking out if only for the great DOCTOR WHO piece that was cut from the Science Fiction Convention episode.