Really? I thought the heroin user was played pretty poorly and had limited time on screen for the viewer to even give the slightest of fecks.
Television After Life
- Thread starter Solius
- Start date
Yeah I wouldn’t say the character was that good, but just that ending couple of scenes alone were quite jarring
This was brilliant. Simple and feel-good without being clever or disappearing up its own arse.
Just rewatching this with the mrs as she hasn't seen it. It's actually really fecking shit.
Gervais needed to decide whether the show was meant to be realistic or not. You've got the serious characters like the heroin addict, nursing home carer etc mixed with utterly ridiculous and cliched (and completely unfunny) characters like the psychologist etc, and then the characters that are just slipped in to say "meaningful thing" like the lady at the graveyard. It's all so cheap and just doesn't work. And it's not funny.
Having your character basically kill a friendly heroin addict halfway through is a great way to kill any empathy for your protagonist as well.
Gervais needed to decide whether the show was meant to be realistic or not. You've got the serious characters like the heroin addict, nursing home carer etc mixed with utterly ridiculous and cliched (and completely unfunny) characters like the psychologist etc, and then the characters that are just slipped in to say "meaningful thing" like the lady at the graveyard. It's all so cheap and just doesn't work. And it's not funny.
Having your character basically kill a friendly heroin addict halfway through is a great way to kill any empathy for your protagonist as well.
New series didn’t really do much but Christ that last episode managed to bring out a tear or two.
It was never going to be as good as s1 but yeah, I still felt quite emotionally at the end.
I found the being miserable formula got a bit boring in season 2, although some of the characters were great. Is season 3 more of the same?
It’s much more of the same and laid on ridiculously thickly.
Was pretty good and an enjoyable watch. Overall I still think The Office and Extras are better than After Life.
I don't mind swearing but I feel like After Life relies too much on Tony calling people the C word and others. Must admit the last episode definitely did a good job of pulling at the emotional heartstrings.
I don't mind swearing but I feel like After Life relies too much on Tony calling people the C word and others. Must admit the last episode definitely did a good job of pulling at the emotional heartstrings.
I’ve enjoyed Afterlife but I don’t think it’s in the same league as The Office or Extras.
I thought season 3 was grand. Laid on the emotional stuff way more and not even nearly as funny as the previous seasons.
I think it’s a perfectly watchable series with some good people in it but I get the impression that Gervais thinks he’s writing a masterpiece but the sentimental parts especially come off as cynical and something a sixth form drama student would come up with.
I wasn't keen on season 2, but I'm enjoying season 3 more.
Completely agree. There are some good laughs, but the sentimental scenes lack subtlety and are pretty heavy handed. I don’t think this is his ball game and overall the show doesn’t come close to either The Office or Extras, which were both excellent (perhaps having Merchant around balanced things out well).
Is Joe Wilkinson still in it?
Yea he is still in it however at least three of the characters from the previous series are not involved.
I wonder why that is?
I used to be a big fan of Gervais, and still listen to his XFM stuff but really think he has disappeared up his own behind, and think it’s weird Steve and Karl don’t speak with him anymore.
It’s impossible to feel any empathy or compassion towards a character that is basically Gervais playing himself, when you know he’s such an annoying prick.
I think for at least two of them it was related to scheduling conflicts due to Covid.
Yea I felt the same actually. The problem throughout the series is that Tony is such an a**hole to other characters, some who don't deserve it, that it is hard to empathise with him.
One moment that showed this in the third series was :
when Tony and Emma went to his brother in law's house for drinks and he just left her there alone and walked out because he took offence about his wife's artwork
I’m curious about what his own experiences of grief actually look like. I realise everyone is different, but I’ve been through the situation is question, and I don’t really relate to his actions throughout the series much.
Yeah literally, and when the series is just Gervais expressing his different views (YES WE KNOWS YOU ARE AN ATHEIST) or repeating jokes from previous work you can’t really take Tony seriously.
Have to be honest, I watched a couple of episode of s2 and didn’t hate it. In fact, it’s decent. The supporting cast are all very good and they seem to get more screentime in this season.
Gervais annoys me a little but I think this is very good and he's very good in it. He pulls off emotional stuff far better than I ever imagined he could.
Don't think the 3rd season was as funny as the first 2 but I can understand it was more about wrapping every characters story up by the end.
Had its moments. Definitely not a bad show.
Had its moments. Definitely not a bad show.
It was alright. I don't get what people are on about with the sadness of the last episode? It felt like a regular episode tbh.
EDIT: Wait I think I missed an episode
EDIT: Wait I think I missed an episode
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Fecking @HecticIt was alright. I don't get what people are on about with the sadness of the last episode? It felt like a regular episode tbh.
EDIT: Wait I think I missed an episode
Couldn’t agree more. Massive stumbling block for me to start watching this when you can already tell this just from the preview clips.
Some people in my life go on and on about the scene where he’s rude to the little redhead kid like it’s comedy gold. It’s baffling that the man who wrote The Office would write that scene and think it’s funny. I find it difficult to square the two.
I enjoyed it but there's only so much self loathing you can put up with till you no longer feel sorry for the person.
So glad its been brought to an end, thought it was the least funniest of the 3 seasons.
So glad its been brought to an end, thought it was the least funniest of the 3 seasons.
I really loved S1, genuinely thought it was Gervais' best work since the Office. S2, ok but a shadow of S1. S3, weak. Like @Bosws87 said, there's only so much you can draw from one stone before it becomes stale and I didn't empathise as much with Tony this time, just wanted to slap him and say 'get a grip you nasty miserable tw*t'.
Surprised anyone carried on watching after he killed the heroin addict.
I feel I must have opened a portal to another part of the Multiverse because I’ve just finished the last episode and, for me, this is the most powerful, raw, honest presentation of loss and grief that I have ever seen!
My wife and I were laughing and crying, often at the same time, throughout every episode and the lastepiaode just had me in absolute pieces.
I remember being a bit jarred by some of the actions but then I saw an interview he did where he noted the backstory for the character; how he was so devoted to Lisa that she was the only one he cared about impressing, so if you don’t necessarily care about impressing people to start, when your world has been torn in half I could easily see how that would just turn in to “I don’t give a feck who I offend”.
I loved loved loved the show!
My wife and I were laughing and crying, often at the same time, throughout every episode and the lastepiaode just had me in absolute pieces.
I remember being a bit jarred by some of the actions but then I saw an interview he did where he noted the backstory for the character; how he was so devoted to Lisa that she was the only one he cared about impressing, so if you don’t necessarily care about impressing people to start, when your world has been torn in half I could easily see how that would just turn in to “I don’t give a feck who I offend”.
I loved loved loved the show!
100% this
I’m sure if I was in my late teens or early 20s i would have loved it. But the stuff he writes about religion and atheism is pretty basic. He‘s basically just copied some faulty standard schoolboy atheism text and used it in a drama as if he’s some kind of genius
nothing he says is incorrect, it’s just not as mind blowing as he must think it is, probably because he spends a lot of time debating with Christians on Twitter or something
A lot of what he comes up with is stuff he’s gone on about a million times before so for some of us it’s not new which makes it not funny or interesting. I think sometimes it suffers from feeling like he’s manufactured characters to say things just so he can reply with a funny point. A bit like Curb in that respect.
I also didn’t really find the child hospital scene very moving as it felt very forced. Especially with the way the kid was reading those lines.
I also didn’t really find the child hospital scene very moving as it felt very forced. Especially with the way the kid was reading those lines.
Season 3 wasn't as good as the first 2. The absence of the therapist was a major reason why. Throwing in Ratty and the Nonce in there without the therapist was weird an ineffective.
I loved it to be honest.
Some stuff I wasn't mad about, for example:
Overall though I think it was a brilliant season and easily as good as the first two. Gervais isn't everyone's cup of tea but I don't think you can deny that he can really act.
Some stuff I wasn't mad about, for example:
The two 'loser' best friends. The horder and the heavy guy, I feel like they just got shit on for the whole show without any real final redemption or moment of realisation that their value comes from within. It didn't really make sense to me
Overall though I think it was a brilliant season and easily as good as the first two. Gervais isn't everyone's cup of tea but I don't think you can deny that he can really act.
It’s funny you say this, because I’m as big a fan of the office, extras and his radio show as you will find, but I found this to be nowhere near the same standards.
The biggest flaw is his massive fecking ego. His character is never the butt of any jokes. His only flaw is the sort of misanthropy teenage boys think is, like, really cool and he’s never anything less than the obvious alpha male of every single situation.
I still like the show though. Mainly for the supporting cast. And there are some very funny lines. Plus the sunshine and general mellow vibe is quite appealing in the middle of January!
I still like the show though. Mainly for the supporting cast. And there are some very funny lines. Plus the sunshine and general mellow vibe is quite appealing in the middle of January!
Basically the opposite of his better works funnily enough.
Yeah, exactly!
Also, Kath belongs in the "women you find attractive but not classically beautiful" thread.