1 | [[quoteright:238:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/life-s-too-short_5125.jpg]] |
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3 | ->''We've worked with some of the world's best actors ... [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg and Warwick Davis!]]'' |
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5 | Single camera SitCom starring Creator/WarwickDavis as a [[AsHimself little person who has appeared in a number of recognizable franchises]], runs a talent agency for short actors, and thanks to his astonishingly incompetent accountant, owes £250,000 in income tax. Written by Creator/RickyGervais and Creator/StephenMerchant, the story revolves around Davis' attempts to earn money, his [[HilarityEnsues wacky encounters]] with other celebrities, and his persistent belief that people should recognize him on the street. |
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7 | ---- |
8 | !!This show provides examples of: |
9 | * AdamWesting: |
10 | ** Essentially everybody you recognize, including Warwick. |
11 | ** Ironically enough, Creator/ValKilmer as well. |
12 | * BananaPeel: Warwick slips on one after climbing out of a bin in the third episode. |
13 | * TheCameo: Just like in ''Series/{{Extras}}'', every episode involves Davis meeting a well-known celebrity, which never ends well. |
14 | ** Creator/LiamNeeson wants to try some [[CannotTellAJoke improvisational comedy]]. |
15 | ---> "Let's do some improvisational comedy. '''Now'''." |
16 | ** Creator/JohnnyDepp hires Warwick to help him get into the mind of a dwarf for an upcoming role. He also has a few words for Ricky Gervais about the Golden Globes. |
17 | ---> ''"'''No one''' insults Creator/TimAllen on my watch."'' |
18 | ** Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter can't keep a straight face in Warwick's presence. And also [[ItIsDehumanising refers to him as "it"]]. |
19 | ** Ricky Gervais manages to piss off Creator/SteveCarell because [[IsThisThingStillOn he doesn't understand how to hang up on Skype]]. |
20 | ** Les Dennis, Keith Chegwin, and Barry off ''Series/EastEnders'' (Shaun Williamson) in multiple episodes, begging for work and contemplating suicide. |
21 | ** Cat Deeley, whom Warwick pays to attend his party. |
22 | ** Music/{{Sting}} trying to get as much charity money out of Warwick as possible. |
23 | ** Creator/ValKilmer, Warwick's co-star from ''Film/{{Willow}}'', donning a [[Film/BatmanForever Batman mask and cape]] (and failing to be recognized). |
24 | * CannotTellAJoke: Liam Neeson's attempts at improv comedy always end being about contracting [=AIDS=] from an African prostitute. The one time he ''does'' tell a funny bit, it turns out it wasn't a joke and Neeson's offended by them chuckling. Johnny Depp is a little better, but not great. |
25 | * ComedicSociopathy: By the end of every episode, Warwick has lost thousands of dollars, is hated by even more people, and has embarrassed himself in a variety of new ways. |
26 | * CookedToDeath: Warwick's accountant muses that, because Warwick is so short, he could just turn his oven on and get inside if he ever wanted to commit suicide. |
27 | * CringeComedy: What else would you expect from the guys who brought us ''Series/{{The Office|UK}}''? |
28 | ** The peak of this is perhaps the instance in which Warwick finally tracks down the internet troll plaguing him online, only to find that he's a ''high-school student confined to a wheelchair''. You can ''literally'' see Warwick's face drop with horror. |
29 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: Warwick having his peephole moved to his eye level, not realizing that all he'd be able to do is look at people's groins. |
30 | * DudeNotFunny: Warwick interrupts a Best Man's speech with a series of jokes that play well, until he [[spoiler: suggests that the couple is getting married due to an unplanned pregnancy. Turns out she can't have children]]. |
31 | * DudeWheresMyRespect: A RunningGag for Warwick is the public's inability to recognize him despite his work in film and acting agency. |
32 | * DumbBlonde: Warwick's moronic PA Cheryl, though technically she is bottle blonde. At a brainstorming session about jobs her first suggestion is for Warwick to become a chimney sweep because no one would object to an adult rather than a child doing that job. She then has to ask him whether or not he is an adult. |
33 | * {{Expy}}: Warwick has most of the same mannerisms and personality traits of [[Series/TheOfficeUK David Brent]]. [[{{Series/Extras}} He also has]] a well-meaning but [[TheDitz unbelievably dumb]] girl to cause trouble for him, and an accountant who's terrible at his job and doesn't take anything seriously. Johny Depp calls him out on it, |
34 | --> ''"I hear that Ricky Gervais quit {{Website/Twitter}} recently because it only has 140 characters. Well that's 139 ''more'' characters than he's ever come up with."'' |
35 | * GoneHorriblyRight: Warwick sets up Les Dennis, Keith Chegwin and Barry from ''Series/EastEnders'' as a pub-circuit variety act. Amazingly, they turn out to be a big hit. So much so, in fact, that they ditch Warwick as manager in favour of one with better contacts. |
36 | * HypocriticalHumor: A running theme of Warwick complaining about anti-dwarf prejudice, only to be even more insensitive to them himself. For instance, when he goes on a blind date and obsesses over her being a dwarf, to the point that it almost ruins the date. |
37 | * ImprovComedyIsInane: Creator/LiamNeeson insists on trying improv comedy, but keeps reusing the same bit about contracting AIDS from an African prostitute, with his one funny joke not actually being intended as a joke. |
38 | * {{Jerkass}}: Creator/ValKilmer is presented as an absolute sponge [[spoiler: who cons Warwick into raising $5000 to fund his ridiculous spending habits, then dashes out of a restaurant whilst leaving Warwick to pay the bill]]. |
39 | * LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Gervais complains about Steve Carell becoming a bigger star than him from something that he created, to which Warwick tells him Steve has a likability factor while Ricky is an acquired taste, then illustrates that by saying that his accountant hated ''Extras'' because "just the way it was a sitcom where famous people pop up as themselves." There's a beat of silence after this. |
40 | * {{Mockumentary}}: Mostly just the first episode. The rest of series has the odd TalkingHeads cutaway or reference to there being a camera-man, but plays out more like a normal sitcom. |
41 | * NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Lampshaded; when Liam Neeson asks how Ricky gets away with this trope, and Stephen just says they don't know. |
42 | * OnlyInItForTheMoney: Warwick is desperate for any role, no matter how demeaning, to pay off his back taxes. |
43 | * [[invoked]]ProductionPosse: Creator/TimBurton's posse is referenced with his [[ShowWithinAShow film-within-a-show]], which stars Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter. |
44 | * RefugeInAudacity: Lampshaded. When Creator/LiamNeeson asks Ricky and Stephen for advice on how to become a stand-up comedian, he attempts a joke that revolves around [=AIDS=]. Stephen tells him that the subject matter is a bit too heavy. |
45 | -->'''Liam''': Yeah, but he tells jokes like that all the time. (points to Ricky) How come he can do it?\ |
46 | '''Stephen''': We don't know. |
47 | * RepeatingSoTheAudienceCanHear: |
48 | --> '''Warwick:''' ''"Emma? Warwick Davis. Warwick Davis from ''Film/HarryPotter''? Professor Flitwi - yeah, 'the dwarf.'"'' |
49 | * {{Slapstick}}: Supplied by Warwick Davis as he tries to go about his life. |
50 | * SmallNameBigEgo: Warwick. |
51 | * SomebodyDoesntLoveRaymond: Warwick sets up a personal website with a comments section. When one person makes a negative comment (out of several flattering ones, no less), Warwick tracks him down to his school and publicly shames the kid...before seeing that he's a paraplegic and thus can't defend himself from the hordes of bullies Warwick has now subjected him to. |
52 | * SpiritualSuccessor: To ''{{Series/Extras}}'', Gervais and Merchant's earlier BBC/HBO show with constant AdamWesting and ComedicSociopathy |
53 | * ThoseTwoGuys: Ricky and Stephen play themselves as this. |
54 | * TriviallyObvious: Warwick convinces Ricky and Steve to write a quote for him to use on his website. The page quote is what they come up with. |
55 | * UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Nothing ''ever'' really goes right for Warwick. Almost every episode features him getting screwed over or publicly embarrassed. Still, its usually his own fault. |
56 | * VocalDissonance: Most of the little people in the show have regular sounding British accents that could easily fit on average sized people despite their small stature. |
57 | * WeWantOurJerkBack: Warwick's clients at Dwarves For Hire are dismayed at his belief that they are better off without him, and [[TenMinuteRetirement convince him to stay]]. |
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FollowingContext Series / LifesTooShort
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