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Telly addicts

After Life - Netflix - Ricky Gervais

119 replies

RageAgainstTheVendingMachine · 09/03/2019 15:08

Am finding it very well written and a departure from other things he's done. Have laughed out loud a few times. Very clever way of writing something moving without being cloying.
Anyone else watching?

OP posts:
Coxie2006 · 17/03/2019 22:45

I bloody loved it,I bore everyone shitless asking if they have watched it. Was catching up on Goggle box from Friday night and they were reviewing it,made me laugh & cry again.

OutwithMyRemit · 19/03/2019 07:23

I enjoyed it, thought all the performances were good (and loved the dog!). Some bits sounded lifted from a stand up routine but never mind, they were still funny!

The last episode though... waaaay too cheesy and schmaltzy for me, it kind of spoilt the rest of it a bit Envy (not envy).

potofdreams1 · 19/03/2019 07:45

The only parts that grated in me were the practical jokes he played on Lisa.
Seriously who would actually laugh after walking through a door and having water chucked all over them?

pineapplebryanbrown · 19/03/2019 08:59

I really dislike RG, i hate his nastiness.

But i loved this! Especially the dog and swearing at the little kid who calls him a paedo, i thought that was hilarious. I just wish it was someone other than RG.

fruitbastille · 19/03/2019 16:15

The only parts that grated in me were the practical jokes he played on Lisa.
Seriously who would actually laugh after walking through a door and having water chucked all over them?

Yes! I felt so annoyed on her behalf. Really shows rg's childish side I think. Tbh I think it started well but went downhill once I realised it was kind of a vanity project and tony WAS Ricky gervais. "The world is a better place with you in it tony!/ don't stop being funny tony!", etc etc. Barf.

The sex worker character was awful, she cleaned his house for free just cos he was so great? Do me a favour.

I did like the bit with the fishfingers in the cafe and the bits with his photographer colleague and the postman. But mostly trite shite with a few lols scattered about.

FedUpOfBrexit · 19/03/2019 17:04

I did like it but I think I must be the only one who was a bit Shockthat he gave the drug addict money to kill himself with enough drugs and he didn't seem to have any remorse that he helped him die.
I know the guy wanted to die but still. I thought that may have made him reconsider his own feelings on suicide.

I did like the fish fingers in the cafe.
Did the same actor play pat the postman and the hoarder guy?

OutwithMyRemit · 19/03/2019 17:10

@FedUpOfBrexit

I was very Shock about that bit, can't niece I forgot to mention it! Find it hard that were all supposed to be on Tony's side after he did that. Is it supposed to be some sort of pro-euthanasia statement or what? It especially doesn't make sense compared to the "there's always something good in life" message of the last episode, we're supposed to be happy Tony isn't suicidal whilst forgetting he took away the chance of recovery from someone else? Is it because Tony is a middle class professional and the other character was a homeless person with a drug addiction, so worth less?

OutwithMyRemit · 19/03/2019 17:11

can't believe I*
FFS, one day I'll manage to write a whole post without a typo, or, y'know, proofread before posting.

saveyourkissesforme · 19/03/2019 18:32

Just binge watched it all. Really enjoyed it. Have not been a fan of RG in recent years but thought that this was nicely written and great viewing.

GoldenKelpie · 19/03/2019 21:55

I knew there would be a thread on this. I was recommended it to watch and binge-watched the entire thing the other night. My DH did the same today as I said he'd like it. He did.

The only part I felt uncomfortable about was the drug taking bit (and giving the dog a tin of beans). Mostly I enjoyed the dark humour, deeply sad but laugh out loud funny in turn.

merdde · 20/03/2019 19:40

Second episode and I think it's too sad for me

Runkle · 21/03/2019 10:01

I agree the last episode wasn't natural enough and schmaltzy like another pp has said.
FedUp the postman was played by Joe Wilkinson and the hoarder was David Earl.

cushioncovers · 24/03/2019 11:06

I'm enjoying it.

TomPinch · 20/05/2019 19:48

I've just watched up to the last episode on Netflix in NZ. Not a fan at all.

In my view what made The Office and Extras really funny was that they pointed out the ridiculous in everyday situations. Ricky Gervais always plays himself (in my view) and he made himself a sort of everyman who did the ridiculous things that people do.

What's made his subsequent work not funny is that he uses his characters to make some big point about the meaning of life. And Gervais' points are always pretty banal and often just plain wrong. I found the first episode funny because it was traditional Gervais: someone in grief was reacting in an uncomfortable way that reflected the ridiculous side of life. The subsequent episodes are full of platitudes and cliches, and the humour got sidelined.

For example, Gervais' character is held up as a good person. Why? He's a manchild with the sole redeeming feature of being funny to his dead wife. He's never had to look after anything but himself, and his life up to that point has consisted of pootling around amusing himself and playing pranks. The woman in the graveyard who says he's a "good person" is simply behaving decently to a relative stranger, yet we are supposed to believe it's true. In fact his character is an irresponsible twat who gives a junky enough money to buy an overdose. Quite what point Gervais is making here I really don't know. The other characters are all cliches in other ways, with the women held up as emotionally responsible rescuers (including the tart with the heart and the nurse) and the men as blundering idiots (rude old man, weak boss, dull co-worker). We also have the obligatory Gervais digs about religion, but Monty Python they are not.

When I got to the end of the penultimate episode, when the new hire gets all emotional and tells Gervais to "please be happy" I started to laugh, and I reckon Oscar Wilde would have too. Then I decided to put it on hold and read some reviews: apparently the final episode is even more serious.

A Guardian review says Gervais thinks this is his best work ever. I really hope he didn't say that. He used to be so much funnier, back when he didn't try to be some TV philosopher.

I worry that he's becoming another Ian McEwan, Alastair Cook or Wayne Rooney: someone who was so good once that their audience (mostly in the UK I should add) hasn't noticed that they stopped being good some time back.

purpleme12 · 03/06/2020 22:43

I loved it.
Really felt the emotions

I thought he truly felt that the junkie would be happier dead and that's why he did it.
(Not that I'm saying that's right)
And so in his eyes he was helping him
Because he knew how that felt too

purpleme12 · 03/06/2020 22:46

Off to watch series 2 now

Dowser · 12/10/2020 12:39

Could’ve sobbed my heart out at the end of series two.
I used to do grief / bereavement counselling and marital..Id have got shot if I’d behaved like that dreadful therapist but I got where he was coming from..and no, no way was he ready to take on a new relationship.
Loved the relationship with his dad. My mum went like that and the days she remembered who I was were precious.
Lots of stuff in there to trigger all kinds of memories ..could’ve sobbed for england many times throughout it..which makes me think ..I need to.
Never been a fan of his but I loved afterlife
Thought daphne / roxy was brilliant.
I think they are a better match than the nurse..I don’t feel any chemistry with them at all.

Dowser · 12/10/2020 12:53

@ooooohbetty
Not a fan of the c word myself but I think if you are a profuse user of it and you’re energy is so low with the heavy burden of grief, which it is
Then you ab the nearest word to express how you’re feeling if you haven’t the energy to find another.
I found ignorant therapist far more distasteful as he practically descended into madness.

I thought the junkie death, which he helped along to some extent ..was glossed over a bit too quickly But yes, clinging onto life when you are overwhelmed with grief is very, very difficult.

fussychica · 12/10/2020 15:52

Absolutely loved season 1 and will start season 2 soon. I think it was pretty much perfect. I almost never cry at tv or films but this made me weep. It also made me laugh a lot. I've never been a fan of RG but this was a revelation.

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