Television After Life

[Posh Red]

Yeah, exactly!

Can’t help but feel that Merchant’s more self-deprecating sense of humour helped to provide the balance in both The Office and Extras.

 

[GDaly95]

Also, Kath belongs in the "women you find attractive but not classically beautiful" thread.

I can't get past the mole on her neck, which then makes me feel like a shallow prick.

 

[Massive Spanner]

It hasn’t been great but any episode that ends with Let Down gets a pass from me.

 

[AkaAkuma]

I like it for the eccentric characters, the fact it gives roles to actors that may be marginalized and the topics while overly sentimental don’t usually get this type of airing on screen. It’s also funny.

Is it great? No. But it’s an easy watch, thoughtful and funny.

I enjoyed the laughing yoga scene and nuance within that joke.

 

[Solius]

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.

The therapist was comfortably the worst part of the first two seasons and every scene with him in felt jarring compared to the rest of the show.

 

[Wibble]

I loved season 1 and 2. Season 3 was good but wasn't as funny and suffered for a couple of main characters disappearing without explanation. I didn't miss the therapist and only missed Roxy as she was mentioned and then got rid of which was a bit jarring. Sandy was a big loss. I also think 6 short episodes was too little to wrap everything up satisfactorily which is why that last episode seemed so rushed.

That said the last scene was pretty emotional still and in general Tony's grief was pretty raw and well played (not necessarily when he was being a cock).

 

[Pogue Mahone]

It hasn’t been great but any episode that ends with Let Down gets a pass from me.

Yes! Hadn’t listened to that tune in ages. So good.

Spoiler: Final Episode S3

Final episode was a hot mess though. Combination of shmaltz laid on way too thick and jokes that completely missed the mark. Shite.

 

[The Corinthian]

Thought it was pretty shit. The only redeeming things being the secondary characters.

Ricky Gervais walks around calling everyone a cnut and then moans about how depressing and sad his life is.

The old woman on the bench calling him her angel - my eyes nearly rolled out of my head. We’ve had Ricky Gervais’ sitting on that bench moaning for 3 seasons, whilst the old lady dispenses some really deep and meaningful advice, whilst he just sits there with the personality of an oil tanker, moaning and sucking in any other character's joy, and she calls him her angel. I couldn't believe it.

But suddenly, our hero has a change of heart after visiting some kids in hospital who are dealing with cancer. If only our hero had seen someone suffering from cancer before, he might have found his hope and redemption 2 seasons ago. Oh wait, the wife he's been bleating about for three years literally died of cancer, so he should know first hand the challenges and the importance of helping those still suffering.

Then at the Tambury fair, we see all the stray secondary characters coupling up in a nice contrived way which is overly mawkish and vomit inducing. This is and always has been a Ricky Gervais vanity project, and a vehicle to satisfy his own ego. Literally, every other character there is to serve Ricky Gervais' character and almost apologise for being normal humans. There were funny moments, mainly when he and Lenny speak to the 'news of the week' person, but other than that it was pretty shit.

 

[Ixion]

I like the show overall but man the last episode and ending did nothing for me. I don't know what I was expecting but the message the closing shot was going for wasn't it.

Spoiler

The brother in law having the heart attack was kind of weird but I thought at one point in that hospital scene he was going to tell Gervais to feck off, like it was building up to it, but he doesn't and Gervais just keeps insulting him over and over. It seemed strange.

Shame the intern at the office was missing this season, she was one of the better characters and worked well with Tony. Roxy being missing was weird too just because of how obvious it was they didn't have the actress but had to wrap up the Postman relationship.

The Postman and Kath possibly getting together doesnt feel right, just convenient. I actually liked her story in S3 and hoped for a better resolution.

Gervais being the lady on the bench's 'Angel' was silly too, it was obviously the other way round. And as far as I could tell he didn't actually set her up with that other guy in the end did he? He tried to but someone sat between them and they met on the bench at a different time.

The ending seems to suggest the point is no one is forever and everyone dies with them all fading away one by one....OK? That is the main point of the show? Not the guy getting over his wife's death and moving on? I'd rather just seen him go to bed and not take his laptop with him for once.

 

[Solius]

I thought a great storyline could’ve been that he had his laptop stolen. Or it stopped working or something. How he would handle that could’ve been interesting.

 

[slyadams]

Just watched the last series. Feels like a bit of a rushed effort. Feel like they could have used the whole 'teasing about no afterlife' part a bit more, him on the bench saying he hoped she wasn't scared because of it was the best part of the series.

Spoiler

In some ways you feel like the end of a series like this would typically be some revelation and him turning a corner, finding a new relationship and being 'fixed' but that didn't happen, he basically realized that he didn't want to die. Perhaps a hint of future developments like him leaving the laptop on the table downstairs, but I also don't mind that perhaps the message is this guy is now fundamentally changed given his experiences and he simply won't be able to fully move on, which is doubly sad because it goes against the clear wishes of his wife.

 

[RedDevil@84]

Saw Season 1, because I was looking for a light watch. Never bothered with Season 2

 

[cafecillos]

Just finished season 3 and, although most of the criticism in here is perfectly valid, the whole thing just struck a chord with me. As someone who is perpetually sad (not clinically depressed or suicidal or anything) I can often sympathise with the character and sort of understand the appeal of wallowing in sorrow and self-pity. Yes, a lot of the drama is rather heavy handed, the whole thing is an ego project, and the season felt a bit repetitive, but the cnut knows how to hit me right in the feels.

 

[dal]

Brilliant, his best work.

 

[2 man midfield]

Weak observations, poorly performed

 

[Berbasbullet]

Weak observations, poorly performed

You’re chatting sh*t, play a record.

 

[Gandalf Greyhame]

Just watched S1, loved it. Not gonna lie, the flashbacks to his wife had me tearing up a couple of times. The ending of S1 was very predictable, but like any good rom com, I'll take the feel good factor.

Deciding on whether I should go S2/S3 or start Stranger Things.