By: Valerie Milano – Pasadena, CA (Hollywood Today) 2/16/12

             Premiering this weekend on HBO – Sunday, February 19, Life’s Too Short, shows life through Warwick Davis’ eyes. The catch here, of course, is that life through Davis’ eyes shows us life from three-foot-six-inches tall. As is to be expected of any Ricky Gervais project, the subject matter can be viewed as irreverent. Davis’ character is a fictionalized version of himself, and as president of HBO Entertainment Sue Naegle explained at the TCA Winter Press Tour, where guests were given gray Life’s Too Short T-shirts, the show is a “faux documentary.” Naegle adds, “Actually, Ricky and Stephen [Merchant, co-creator] play fictionalized versions of themselves also, so it essentially is a show with three people pretending to be themselves in a documentary, which isn’t exactly real, but it is hilarious.” Merchant has worked with Gervais on The Office and Extras, among other projects.

            Given the show’s co-creators, it should be no surprise that boundaries will be pushed, but as Gervais explained to HT, “Well, I think I deal in taboo subjects, particularly in standup, because I want to take the audience to a place they haven’t been before. And no harm can come of taboo subjects. And when people say it’s sort of outrageous or sick or pushing the boundaries, I don’t see that it is. I think some people confuse the target of a joke with the subject of a joke. You know, you can have jokes about race without being racist, et cetera, which we’ve always done. And I think sometimes people flinch too soon. And very often, the target is people’s prejudices or the character’s stupidity. So I think smart people know what we’re trying to do. We’re not trying to be just outrageous for outrageous’ sake. That’s too easy. It’s childish, and it’s pretty pointless. But I do think you have to go as far as you can to explore comedy.”

            Stephen Merchant explains the reason for creating the Life’s Too Short by stating, “Initially it came from sort of Warwick’s own observations of his experience as being a little person. And then, obviously, the fact is that he was in Willow, and he was in Return of the Jedi and all these other things. And so, you know, you have a commodity there. You have Warwick’s own experience in the real world, as it were, but also his celebrity. And so if we’re going to do something kind of truthful and honest, we end up using that aspect of Warwick that does exist, and so inevitably we sort of are in the world again of show business. And as always, you know, suddenly you find that there’s people who are interested in being in the show. Like, Ricky dropped a line to Johnny Depp.”

            Besides Depp, Naegle says viewers can look forward to cameos from such other stars as Sting, Liam Neeson, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Carell and Kat Deeley.

            Also expect references to Davis’ acting career, especially Willow, despite, as Gervais explains, “One of the big gags in the series is that he’s not recognized because all his biggest roles, he’s had his face covered up. He’s an Ewok or he’s in a robot or he’s just a voice. And then goes, “I was in Willow.” And they go, ‘I’ve never seen Willow.’ So, you know, he doesn’t get anything. He doesn’t get any acclaim.”

            Davis further affirms that the show is not completely true to his life, but there are a few things that draw from personal experience. Commending Merchant and Gervais, Davis says, “They’ve managed to kind of get inside of the head of a little person so well and so believably that I was thinking, you know, that’s a scenario that should have happened by now, and I’m sure some of them will come back to haunt me.”

            In case any viewers confuse the character with the man, Gervais assures, “He’s used his own name, but it’s not like him at all. This man is manipulative. He’s exploitive. He’s jealous. We have to make him an awful person, because Warwick, his screen presence is adorable. He’s drenched in humanity, and we had to make him like a Hitler for you to get the gag.”

            Look for healthy doses of slapstick, Davis who says, “I love the slapstick element to it. I mean, I don’t think we always see enough of that in comedy, so it was really fun to have that opportunity. And my life is quite physical anyway. You know, when you are three-foot-six, you kind of have to climb stuff now and again and find yourself in quite precarious positions just to manage in what is quite a big world. And so it’s something to play all of that out as well.”

            Davis’ character has a chip on his shoulder, causing him to get into some situations due to his ego and “inner demons,” which leads to some of these slapstick moments. 

            For those who may feel uneasy about the show’s subject matter, Gervais soothes with, “It’s not half an hour of’ isn’t it funny that he’s so short’. It isn’t that at all. He’s got small-man complex. It’s nothing to do with his height per se. Everything’s justified. And it’s about his aims. It’s about his ambition, you know. And I hope people realize that. Again, there’s a difference between a show that exploits and a show that ridicules exploitation, and we’re clearly in the second camp.”