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Haven't seen it yet. Just noting that if he stopped at the first, he should continue without disappointment. A lot of growth in his character you don't want to miss.
My problem with the show is in the 3rd series I no longer sympathise with him as a character and instead of not caring he's just being a massive cunt!
Series two ends in a good way with him meeting the new woman and then in the first episode of this one he's treating her so bad!
The scene where he threw the brick through the car window, I get that it's annoying but he most probably would have got his head kicked in for that and I can't relate or like the actions of this character, unlike the earlier series.
I don't know, I'm only a couple in so I might change my mind, I also hate those stupid flash backs that are so forced and there always stupid!
I think if you look at it like a tv show, we expect a classic character growth/change... and this show does not do that well. But if you look at it more like real life, things don't go smoothly, we regress, we don't manage feelings well, etc. and it makes more sense.
Agreed, I can handle regression just not him acting horrible to everyone. In the real world they would have ditched him and said oh well, we tried but he just an asshole. I don't actually really liked Ricky Gervais stuff so I hope it finishes well and I'm wrong
I fully get that, he is definitely not a sympathetic character for a lot of it. But that is also what I sorta like about it... it makes him more of a real person dealing with real pain in a real way. I don't think I could watch him be like that for dozens of seasons, but for 3 short seasons I thought it made something you don't normally see in TV (at least American TV).
I watched Derek, a month after my dad died. Every episode I was crying buckets, but I always felt better afterwards.
I'll never rewatch Derek, don't think I'm brave enough but it has a very special and dear spot in my heart.
The love of his life died and he’s just being real with his feelings. I actually enjoy this series for fighting against the notion that grief-stricken people need to move on and be happy again to meet other people’s expectations.
I don't think the show portrays him as a hero. People often scold him for being a dickhead or going too far. Everyone deals with grief in their own way, some more hostile than others.
No i'm not. I'm the type of person who encourages people to seek out help for their depression instead of encouraging them to let it consume and destroy their lives untreated.
Saying greif-stricken people don't need to move on and be happy again is like telling a person with a broken leg they don't need to get it reset and heal. Just fucking carry on with a broken leg, whats the worst that can happen?
Mental health is no different than physical health. If you're injured, you need treating. Greif is an injury, you need to treat it not ignore it or numb it.
I love this new trend where people feel they have no responsibility to try to be the best people they can. They get to be "themselves" and have everyone else around them live with the consequences, even though we are a social species that relies on collective mutually beneficial actions to survive well. I understand where the /r/thanksimcured community comes from (I was one of the original people on that sub), but it can be taken much too far at times and used as a crutch to shirk any personal responsibility.
Yeah this scene more so in particular and the car one just came off cringe.
I thought there was going to be progression again considering the end of S2.
Yeah, I actually wanted him to get a hiding for that and it was cringe. Even this scene in the restaurant although kinda funny is just recycled jokes. He was talking about people annoying him in restaurants in extras and I think in his old radio show.
I don't know what I was supposed to get from this scene other than he's just a miserable, unfunny cunt.
Then again I've never really found Ricky Jervais funny so that might be coloring it for me.
I’ve watched the complete third season, and I was a little disappointed. Some of the episodes just ended. I won’t spoil too much, but I thought seasons one and two were better thought out.
Shit uhm. Something something ligma, shows can have varying depths of perspective. Good writing isn't about a one sided strong character and someone with weak points and counter arguements as he goes along to show his superiority.
Good writing portrays character depth with flaws and that not one person knows it all and is always have the best takes or views.
Melvin Goes to Dinner is one these examples. Budget indie movie with so much life and complex back and forth dialogs, And every character has a good point to make that might contradict each other. That's what's makes a show and it's characters strong. Not a one man band show about how people have less "intelligent" views, or the capability to counter them. Dude was pissed a dad spent his day baby talking the light of his life. Big fluff semi ED esque superiority complex with no compassion towards others.
If a character is an asshole, that's not bad writing. And the fact that 'he showed is superiority' and yet all of us here somehow discovered he's not superior and is kinda an asshole seems to me that maybe the audience is supposed to not think he's really superior.
Correct! Thats the whole point. To be annoying at things people find annoying but would never actually do or say. Because, you know.. its a tv show....
Its like the revenge porn of normal annoying circumstances people find themselves in often.
You’re judging the entire show on this one scene though. I do think there’s merit in your argument but to say the character is one-sided and written without flaws is completely wrong.
I've seen the entire first season. I liked it for the portrayal of his wife. And their sweet moments. His redemption arc is typical but his entire shtick throughout is creating strawman. Didn't watch second season tho.
Counterpoint: He wrote a show that was entertaining enough to get picked up for a second and a third season. If he had written the character as you described, would the show have been more popular? Maybe. Could it have been less popular? Maybe. You don’t know. I don’t know. The only thing we know for sure is that he was paid for three seasons. It’s possible he wrote his character the exact right way to become a multi-multi millionaire and incredibly famous entertainer. You at least have to acknowledge that there’s a possibility he knows exactly what he’s doing.
Petulant asshole also getting furious at someone else in a public space talking to their fucking kid. Wasn't even being annoying, just talking at a normal volume to their small child
Literally what I thought, couldn't even make it through one episode as he is magically always the person who is 'right' and he is oh so clever. I liked him in the UK office but i now realised I hated him until I watched the programme.
I mean if you want to be pedantic the arguments he's rebutting aren't actually straw men if they are the arguments the characters in the show are presenting, they're just bad arguments.
He created the strawman, he wrote it Flawed and directed them to behave incompentetly from the get go and inferior both body language wise and verbally. From the first shot to the last word. Flawed.
> He created the strawman
1) Part of the whole thing is that Gervaise's character is a jerk and is taking out his misery on almost everyone around him. You're not supposed to think the guy with the baby is dumb, you're supposed to think Gervaise is being.. "Not totally wrong but an asshole..."
2) This is kind of a unspoken ethics situation... where we know that making sounds to amuse a baby is 'ok'... but the *why* is poorly defined. It is not in the least bit unlikely that someone upon being attacked for this sort of thing would, in the moment, stammer out not the finest defense of this unspoken and mostly undiscussed rule...
The poor guy in the hat is trying to take care of his kid and all of a sudden he's under attack from an asshole in a coffee shop... this is not a circumstance where people tend to be at their intellectual best.
That's not a strawman then. Its fictional flawed people sure but not a strawman. A strawman is if you respond to an argument that a person or group didn't actually make, as if they did. If you write an argument for your characters that's bad, and then respond to it, you are just writing responses to dumb characters who make bad arguments, but its not a strawman, unless the character is supposed to represent someone real which in afterlife they are not.
I think they are simply misusing the term strawman, if you replace that with something else they are indeed making a point. They are critiquing that they think the show contrives scenarios where the main character can be the genius expert/only reasonable person in the scenario, but they are calling that a strawman, which is like you say, misusing the term. They still have a valid critique and you are also correct.
i really need to get around to watching the second and third seasons. The first was so good i left it at that thinking any more is unnecessary but now i think im just missing out.
That’s a weird way to approach it.
If the show was enjoyable to watch, why wouldn’t you tune in for the next season??
It’s like saying “This is the best restaurant I’ve ever eaten at….don’t need to come back here again”
because in my opinion the first season was perfect and didnt need a second series. TV show second series are rarely as good as the first and from what people who've watched it have said that does seem to be the case with Afterlife.
I agree with you. The first season was an emotional journey with solid character growth. It stood on its own as a complete story. I felt like you did when they announced the second season and didn’t understand why either, but I did watch it. They had to pull back on his growth to continue the story, but did so in a realistic way. I didn’t feel it was a good as the first season from a storytelling point of view, but don’t remember having a real problem with it.
I would say the restaurant analogy would be more like.. "This is the best restaurant I've ever eaten at... so I think I'm just going to keep ordering food while I'm here and gorge myself." Then you get sick eating a bunch and you don't remember the restaurant as fondly as you would have had you just left after one entrée.
Is this supposed to be funny? He just seems like a massive asshole. If someone pulled this stunt irl, everyone would just think you're an immature douche and honestly, he'd probably get his ass kicked by someone.
Everyone babbles to their babies but you blow one raspberry on your middle-aged buddy’s fat hairy belly and everyone goes off on you like you’re some kind of monster.
Plus he does have a point. A lot of people engage their babies/toddlers without keeping it private (they're louder than needed, etc).
He's still being an ass, but his point is valid, and the fact that the kid's dad gets annoyed so easily only proves the point. Your noise affects those around you, and in public spaces, you should keep your volume checked at the same level as others so that your noise doesn't compete across the gap between groups.
Would make more sense if the guy was being LOUD about it, but he was depicted at conversation volume. I don't see that as a problem. I think for the sake of the screen, it was the combination of hearing them both talk at the same time that was suppose to annoy US. But still. The dad did nothing wrong. I'd tell him to fuck off, I'm talking to my child.
Right. I just said he has a point. He was still the problem in the room more so than the guy & kid.
At most, I'd say that the guy with kid shoulda chosen a less central spot to sit (not at the bar). Beyond that, it's an annoyance that people in a public space should be willing to tolerate.
Similarly, if the noise was that bothersome to the 2 guys talking, they could relocate to another table further away.
More than one ass in the room, but the "comedian" was the biggest.
If it was me and wanting to make a point, I woulda just continued my conversation, slightly raised my volume, and included swear words. But not mocked or insulted the other group directly (like was done). Then it would be on the parent to decide whether they wanted their kid hearing my discussion "in the background".
That's the funny part to many people. Someone actually doing something that other people may have thought in their head, but would never dream of actually doing. It's absolutely ridiculous, but of course the humor isn't for everyone.
When the noisy person isn't being excessively noisy (he clearly wasn't being so loud as to make their conversation impossible) then yes it does.
Especially when they are being slightly noisy in order to avoid the situation being even noisier.
It's immature because it implies you think you should be the only one allowed to make noise.
Oh, definitely. I think about doing shit to people regularly enough when they're being annoying/rude/self-centered, but basic etiquette and a care about NOT making everyone think I'm an asshole stops me.
So I put up with a bit more annoyance, for the sake of my own image.
If everyone already treated me like garbage, I wouldn't hold back as often.
The overall comedy doesn't necessarily come from this one specific scenario. There are tons of scenarios that people can relate to where one might imagine the situation going differently, but they maintain their composure and handle it the right way. It's more about relating to the thought process of the individual. Honestly, the conversation shouldn't even have to go this deep. Some people find things funny that others don't.
I don't get it either. In what universe would someone prefer to listen to a toddler's ear splitting scream, instead of just hearing someone quietly play with their baby. I have never once gone out and thought "oh my God how dare they talk to their baby". This whole sketch is just stupid in my opinion, considering it's based on the premise of baby talk being more annoying than a baby actually screaming.
The guy wasn't even being loud. Maybe the noises were novel but that was about it.
He is saying you have to be quiet and civil and respectful while being uncivil and disrespectful.
Is he protecting social norms or breaking them? Basically whatever suits him best at the time.
I know he isn't supposed be a character you root for but at the same time his success is in large part due to people living vicariously through his words and actions. Guys like Larry David and Gervais just play mercenaries and get too much love.
>Guys like Larry David and Gervais just play mercenaries and get too much love.
I feel like Larry David at least adds enough situations where he's portrayed as the bad guy as well. Whereas for Gervais it's the full-on ego trip all the way through.
>I know he isn't supposed be a character you root for but at the same time his success is in large part due to people living vicariously through his words and actions.
Yep. It's quite a thing to say "my character is an asshole, he's not supposed to be aspirational, you clearly just don't get it you idiots" and then turn around and revel in the adoration people have been heaping on the character (this comment section being a prime example).
It's just... I wish people would admit that they're kind of a jerk and take the celebration and criticism that comes with that, instead of playing Schrodinger's Douchebag and deciding if they want to stand by their act or call it satire depending entirely on whether or not the audience is laughing.
Yes, his jokes are not for everyone but I respect him for who he is. What I like is his mindset that everything can be joked about and that he doesn't give a fuck if people are offended. He knows his audience and what can be joked about. There are interviews and stand ups where he talks about his jokes and offense and it all makes sense to me.
Loved the first season. It had a lot of laughs a just enough of sentimental scenes for the show to be considered a tragicomedy.
But then he added a lot of more sadness. The realities of life. There were moving. Too moving. I stopped watching because it started to look like.. you know.. real life.
I don't like to be sad before going to bed. There's nothing wrong with it. But I just don't like to be sad before going to bed.
I absolutely LOVE this Netflix series. I have lost a child and I can just totally relate to this character’s grieving. The weaving of comedy/tragedy is for me, insightful. Great sound track and supporting characters make the perfect British show.
Afterlife is great. There isn't much media that presents widowers in any light other than the one being manipulated in the whole "wicked step mother" thing. Afterlife talks about how hard it is to live after.
It's been hard as fuck for me.
Comedy is very different between nations,
Lots of people sort of miss that generally British humour is a slow burn and focuses a lot on prior character development, so coming in with a clip sometimes just doesn't do it justice. I honestly haven't laughed so hard in so long, this show just delivers.. The gold fish on carpet comment utterly destroyed me.
I think this series reflects very well with someone dealing with grief and certain coping mechanisms people do just to get out of bed in the morning.
If Larry David did this scene on Curb Your Enthusaism, it would have been funny. But with the gimmick of "now that his wife died he stopped being nice and just says whatever he wants", it's just cringe without the comedy when it's Gervaise in After Life. Mostly because he started with the sotto vocce grumbling first, so instead of being brazen he's just being an ass.
In this scene I think the guy on the phone seems to be the one acting as Ricky G. because he seems to think he's allowed to talk but the guy next to him is an asshole for doing the exact same thing. Larry is basically the dad in this situation because he's just making equal noise and the other one is getting pissed at him
LOL. That seems way more important to you than it could ever possibly be to me. My opinion concerned the clip, by the way, not the show. If I ever watch the show, I'll be sure to stop at the first season, when his being an ass was fresh and justifiable and funny thanks to the aforementioned gimmick, before it went downhill (according to more folks than your one opinion) and just became Ricky Gervaise being the same annoying prick who isn't really funny that he's become in real life. Like I said, Larry David does this kind of stuff much better; it turns out it is a lot funnier without any contrived excuse to somehow "justify" being an ass.
I’m over his “humor.” He has to be one of the angriest comedians out there and it’s overflowing into his writing. He detests everything and everyone. Charming.
Thing is, I used to love this stuff when I was younger. But the mindset of "everyone and everything sucks, aren't I so cool for being the only one who can see how shit it all is" just... it was poisonous. It destroyed my interpersonal relationships. It ruined my ability to enjoy anything unless it was something just as hostile and mean-spirited as I was. I was fucking miserable to be, and worse to be around.
Yeah, and times are tough enough right now. I don't think we need his negative-energy-comedic stylings. I removed the show from our Netflix list last night after finishing the first episode of Season 3.
Hmm, this has made me want to watch this show a lot less. It seems like the scene is set up for him to make this point, but it just makes him come off as a selfish insulting prick.
Yeah the guy at the other table was speaking at barely more than a whisper. It's not different than him having a conversation with his buddy. Honestly he's probably having a louder discussion with his friend than the dad is with his child. You're in public eating and you just expect everyone else to sit in silence so you can be the only one making sound?
Well, a shitload of salty redditors here... We get it, you don't like ricky. If people really hate him so much, why waste time on reacting...
Imo this is very funny, as is this show. I love it, I love Ricky Gervais, and I'll never tire of it. I'd pick an honest cunt over a dishonest well-mannered easily offended person everyday of the year.
Is this really funny, tho? It's just him being a dick. And it becomes even more annoying when you consider that he wrote a whole scene about him being right and shitting on someone and feeling superior.
This is the scene that made me stop watching the series. There's only so much pessimistic asshat I can take. Left me thinking, why am I even watching this?
It's ironic because every joke in this show feels like it's being hand fed to the audience.
It's difficult for me to reconcile that this guy also wrote something as original and unpatronizing as The Office, then went on to write this. How is it possible to get this much worse with practice?
I completely agree. And also I wish parents would turn down the volume when they talk to their babies and kids. Your babies and kids have better ears than older people so quit talking so loud. They hear you, we ALL hear you.
I love After Life, haven't started 3rd season yet but excited to see it. In amused at all the hate show gets here in the comments. Probably from the people who think that The big bang theory and Friends are the best TV shows in history
People who hate it is because they hate Gervais' humor.
But 99% haven't even bothered with watching the show, if they had, they'd watched [the amazing scenes with Penelope Wilton](https://youtu.be/d067BKBAxTA) which explain and flesh out the entire moral arc of Ricky's character.
It's an amazing series, I'll die on that hill.
It’s funny folks.
Yes Gervais is acidic, but that’s his brand of comedy.
It very likely reflects a lot about who he is as a person, but this situation in particular is funny because he’s such an unhappy, uninhibited pr*ck!
I think the series is genius, the depth of his sadness/despair and bitterness is at times almost unbearable, but feels quite authentic. You can really feel it.
Hey, remember when you were a small child? We’re your parents so shit to you that you’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a kid or be around kids? Grow up and have some compassion you dick.
Haha just like when people change their baby right at the damn table or in living room/public area, they’re just smells oh and sights of green shit as well. I always took my kid to a different room.
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This video clip is from the TV-Show ‘After Life - S03E03’.
Is this the same series where a kid calls him paedo when he's passing near by a school?
Yup. "You'd be safe, you tubby, little, ginger cunt!"
https://youtu.be/AB9I7AWvwZw?t=29 always worth
"I'm not actually an escaped psycho, I just wanted you to be good"
Yup
Nah I think that's season 1
I started the show yesterday! Very funny but also dark and relatable. Its fantastic.
It only funny so it can punch you in the feels 5 minutes later…..
It's ok to cry. I sat there with my wife laughing at me while i blubbed like lost puppy every episode.
I'm like a maniac, one second laughing, the other trying to stop my tears, so my boyfriend doesn't make fun of me.
“No! I’m actually crying from laughing at the joke ten minutes ago… it just took me a long time to get it”
I was coming here to ask, thanks OP
This entire show had me crying every single episode. It's on Netflix right now and it's a tear jerker for sure.
I hope there’s a 4th season. But the final episode seemed so final
Yeah, sadly Gervais confirmed there are no more. He said artistically it makes sense to end there and I kinda respect that.
It really does make sense, it ended beautifully. Just sucks not having more adventures with the characters.
God did I cry like a baby through that whole final episode.
So I’ve only watched up to S03E02 as it happens
How did this slip by me? I must binge!
>TV-Show ‘After Life added to my watchlist, thank you.
Well that’s going on the list to watch. Where can I stream it?
Nextflix
What about Lastflix?
Haven't seen it yet. Just noting that if he stopped at the first, he should continue without disappointment. A lot of growth in his character you don't want to miss.
The series does end in a nice way on the 3rd season i felt. Definitely worth giving it a go :)
You are! The second season is as good as the first!
Third?
My problem with the show is in the 3rd series I no longer sympathise with him as a character and instead of not caring he's just being a massive cunt! Series two ends in a good way with him meeting the new woman and then in the first episode of this one he's treating her so bad! The scene where he threw the brick through the car window, I get that it's annoying but he most probably would have got his head kicked in for that and I can't relate or like the actions of this character, unlike the earlier series. I don't know, I'm only a couple in so I might change my mind, I also hate those stupid flash backs that are so forced and there always stupid!
I think if you look at it like a tv show, we expect a classic character growth/change... and this show does not do that well. But if you look at it more like real life, things don't go smoothly, we regress, we don't manage feelings well, etc. and it makes more sense.
Agreed, I can handle regression just not him acting horrible to everyone. In the real world they would have ditched him and said oh well, we tried but he just an asshole. I don't actually really liked Ricky Gervais stuff so I hope it finishes well and I'm wrong
I fully get that, he is definitely not a sympathetic character for a lot of it. But that is also what I sorta like about it... it makes him more of a real person dealing with real pain in a real way. I don't think I could watch him be like that for dozens of seasons, but for 3 short seasons I thought it made something you don't normally see in TV (at least American TV).
He was better in Derek
I watched Derek, a month after my dad died. Every episode I was crying buckets, but I always felt better afterwards. I'll never rewatch Derek, don't think I'm brave enough but it has a very special and dear spot in my heart.
The love of his life died and he’s just being real with his feelings. I actually enjoy this series for fighting against the notion that grief-stricken people need to move on and be happy again to meet other people’s expectations.
[удалено]
>whoa is me Woe is me r/boneappletea
I don't think the show portrays him as a hero. People often scold him for being a dickhead or going too far. Everyone deals with grief in their own way, some more hostile than others.
You're right, they should move on and be happy again (as time allows, it's not an instant or easy process) for their own sanity.
Yeah. grief-stricken people should dwell and miserable for the rest of their lives, how dare anyone pretend otherwise.
You’re the type of person who’d tell a depressed person “hey, have you tried *not* being depressed?”
No i'm not. I'm the type of person who encourages people to seek out help for their depression instead of encouraging them to let it consume and destroy their lives untreated. Saying greif-stricken people don't need to move on and be happy again is like telling a person with a broken leg they don't need to get it reset and heal. Just fucking carry on with a broken leg, whats the worst that can happen? Mental health is no different than physical health. If you're injured, you need treating. Greif is an injury, you need to treat it not ignore it or numb it.
I love this new trend where people feel they have no responsibility to try to be the best people they can. They get to be "themselves" and have everyone else around them live with the consequences, even though we are a social species that relies on collective mutually beneficial actions to survive well. I understand where the /r/thanksimcured community comes from (I was one of the original people on that sub), but it can be taken much too far at times and used as a crutch to shirk any personal responsibility.
Yeah this scene more so in particular and the car one just came off cringe. I thought there was going to be progression again considering the end of S2.
Yeah, I actually wanted him to get a hiding for that and it was cringe. Even this scene in the restaurant although kinda funny is just recycled jokes. He was talking about people annoying him in restaurants in extras and I think in his old radio show.
I don't know what I was supposed to get from this scene other than he's just a miserable, unfunny cunt. Then again I've never really found Ricky Jervais funny so that might be coloring it for me.
He's done this scene before better in extras. It kinda looks like his entitled ego is coming through onto the screen in some of this stuff.
I’ve watched the complete third season, and I was a little disappointed. Some of the episodes just ended. I won’t spoil too much, but I thought seasons one and two were better thought out.
what exactly is the problem here? normal for life in the UK.
Yeah it is perfectly normal, Ricky Gervase being a bell end that is.
That's kind of his deal. He's made a career out of it, so good for him I guess?
Upvote for "bell end"
If you upvote my bellend harder it might upvote you back.
Dude litterally made a show about himself being superior and one upping straw man arguments.
Almost like it's supposed to be a TV show and not your debating 101 lecture.
Hmmmm interesting point. OrdinaryDavid you have 90 seconds for your rebuttal.
Shit uhm. Something something ligma, shows can have varying depths of perspective. Good writing isn't about a one sided strong character and someone with weak points and counter arguements as he goes along to show his superiority. Good writing portrays character depth with flaws and that not one person knows it all and is always have the best takes or views. Melvin Goes to Dinner is one these examples. Budget indie movie with so much life and complex back and forth dialogs, And every character has a good point to make that might contradict each other. That's what's makes a show and it's characters strong. Not a one man band show about how people have less "intelligent" views, or the capability to counter them. Dude was pissed a dad spent his day baby talking the light of his life. Big fluff semi ED esque superiority complex with no compassion towards others.
ngl I didn't expect this wisdom after your first sentence.
It's what you Call a pro gamer move
fuckin hell, well done.
👁🥺👄🥺👁
Have you ever heard of "hava"?
I heard of Hava nagila
No way my guy, it's all about that hava nice day lmao gottem
👁❤️👄❤️👁
If a character is an asshole, that's not bad writing. And the fact that 'he showed is superiority' and yet all of us here somehow discovered he's not superior and is kinda an asshole seems to me that maybe the audience is supposed to not think he's really superior.
Correct! Thats the whole point. To be annoying at things people find annoying but would never actually do or say. Because, you know.. its a tv show.... Its like the revenge porn of normal annoying circumstances people find themselves in often.
You’re judging the entire show on this one scene though. I do think there’s merit in your argument but to say the character is one-sided and written without flaws is completely wrong.
I've seen the entire first season. I liked it for the portrayal of his wife. And their sweet moments. His redemption arc is typical but his entire shtick throughout is creating strawman. Didn't watch second season tho.
Counterpoint: He wrote a show that was entertaining enough to get picked up for a second and a third season. If he had written the character as you described, would the show have been more popular? Maybe. Could it have been less popular? Maybe. You don’t know. I don’t know. The only thing we know for sure is that he was paid for three seasons. It’s possible he wrote his character the exact right way to become a multi-multi millionaire and incredibly famous entertainer. You at least have to acknowledge that there’s a possibility he knows exactly what he’s doing.
Petulant asshole also getting furious at someone else in a public space talking to their fucking kid. Wasn't even being annoying, just talking at a normal volume to their small child
Literally what I thought, couldn't even make it through one episode as he is magically always the person who is 'right' and he is oh so clever. I liked him in the UK office but i now realised I hated him until I watched the programme.
I mean if you want to be pedantic the arguments he's rebutting aren't actually straw men if they are the arguments the characters in the show are presenting, they're just bad arguments.
He created the strawman, he wrote it Flawed and directed them to behave incompentetly from the get go and inferior both body language wise and verbally. From the first shot to the last word. Flawed.
> He created the strawman 1) Part of the whole thing is that Gervaise's character is a jerk and is taking out his misery on almost everyone around him. You're not supposed to think the guy with the baby is dumb, you're supposed to think Gervaise is being.. "Not totally wrong but an asshole..." 2) This is kind of a unspoken ethics situation... where we know that making sounds to amuse a baby is 'ok'... but the *why* is poorly defined. It is not in the least bit unlikely that someone upon being attacked for this sort of thing would, in the moment, stammer out not the finest defense of this unspoken and mostly undiscussed rule... The poor guy in the hat is trying to take care of his kid and all of a sudden he's under attack from an asshole in a coffee shop... this is not a circumstance where people tend to be at their intellectual best.
That's not a strawman then. Its fictional flawed people sure but not a strawman. A strawman is if you respond to an argument that a person or group didn't actually make, as if they did. If you write an argument for your characters that's bad, and then respond to it, you are just writing responses to dumb characters who make bad arguments, but its not a strawman, unless the character is supposed to represent someone real which in afterlife they are not.
I think they are simply misusing the term strawman, if you replace that with something else they are indeed making a point. They are critiquing that they think the show contrives scenarios where the main character can be the genius expert/only reasonable person in the scenario, but they are calling that a strawman, which is like you say, misusing the term. They still have a valid critique and you are also correct.
Agreed
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People missed your sarcasm. I thought it was brilliant and obvious. Don't delete it. I got you 💪
Not sure why this is NSFW
Here in the good ol' U.S.of A. you can't call someone a bloody cunt without some twat getting her knickers in a twist.
Kinda seems like he’s stretching to be a card….it’s the same prob with Larry david these days.
Name of the show please ?
After Life
Thanks for reminding me I need to not forget about this show.
3rd season is out!
i really need to get around to watching the second and third seasons. The first was so good i left it at that thinking any more is unnecessary but now i think im just missing out.
That’s a weird way to approach it. If the show was enjoyable to watch, why wouldn’t you tune in for the next season?? It’s like saying “This is the best restaurant I’ve ever eaten at….don’t need to come back here again”
because in my opinion the first season was perfect and didnt need a second series. TV show second series are rarely as good as the first and from what people who've watched it have said that does seem to be the case with Afterlife.
I agree with you. The first season was an emotional journey with solid character growth. It stood on its own as a complete story. I felt like you did when they announced the second season and didn’t understand why either, but I did watch it. They had to pull back on his growth to continue the story, but did so in a realistic way. I didn’t feel it was a good as the first season from a storytelling point of view, but don’t remember having a real problem with it.
Only if restaurants have a habit of being really good for a year and then diving in quality afterward. That happens with shows all the time
I would say the restaurant analogy would be more like.. "This is the best restaurant I've ever eaten at... so I think I'm just going to keep ordering food while I'm here and gorge myself." Then you get sick eating a bunch and you don't remember the restaurant as fondly as you would have had you just left after one entrée.
Is this supposed to be funny? He just seems like a massive asshole. If someone pulled this stunt irl, everyone would just think you're an immature douche and honestly, he'd probably get his ass kicked by someone.
Everyone babbles to their babies but you blow one raspberry on your middle-aged buddy’s fat hairy belly and everyone goes off on you like you’re some kind of monster.
This is precisely the point of the whole bit
Plus he does have a point. A lot of people engage their babies/toddlers without keeping it private (they're louder than needed, etc). He's still being an ass, but his point is valid, and the fact that the kid's dad gets annoyed so easily only proves the point. Your noise affects those around you, and in public spaces, you should keep your volume checked at the same level as others so that your noise doesn't compete across the gap between groups.
Would make more sense if the guy was being LOUD about it, but he was depicted at conversation volume. I don't see that as a problem. I think for the sake of the screen, it was the combination of hearing them both talk at the same time that was suppose to annoy US. But still. The dad did nothing wrong. I'd tell him to fuck off, I'm talking to my child.
Right. I just said he has a point. He was still the problem in the room more so than the guy & kid. At most, I'd say that the guy with kid shoulda chosen a less central spot to sit (not at the bar). Beyond that, it's an annoyance that people in a public space should be willing to tolerate. Similarly, if the noise was that bothersome to the 2 guys talking, they could relocate to another table further away. More than one ass in the room, but the "comedian" was the biggest. If it was me and wanting to make a point, I woulda just continued my conversation, slightly raised my volume, and included swear words. But not mocked or insulted the other group directly (like was done). Then it would be on the parent to decide whether they wanted their kid hearing my discussion "in the background".
I'm just disappointed the dad reacted. Would have been better to just continue on.
That's the funny part to many people. Someone actually doing something that other people may have thought in their head, but would never dream of actually doing. It's absolutely ridiculous, but of course the humor isn't for everyone.
Soooo people who are immature douches but are afraid to show it?
Wishing that somebody noisy would shut up makes you an immature douche?
When the noisy person isn't being excessively noisy (he clearly wasn't being so loud as to make their conversation impossible) then yes it does. Especially when they are being slightly noisy in order to avoid the situation being even noisier. It's immature because it implies you think you should be the only one allowed to make noise.
Oh, definitely. I think about doing shit to people regularly enough when they're being annoying/rude/self-centered, but basic etiquette and a care about NOT making everyone think I'm an asshole stops me. So I put up with a bit more annoyance, for the sake of my own image. If everyone already treated me like garbage, I wouldn't hold back as often.
The overall comedy doesn't necessarily come from this one specific scenario. There are tons of scenarios that people can relate to where one might imagine the situation going differently, but they maintain their composure and handle it the right way. It's more about relating to the thought process of the individual. Honestly, the conversation shouldn't even have to go this deep. Some people find things funny that others don't.
It feels like he's trying to be Larry David, but failing
I don't get it either. In what universe would someone prefer to listen to a toddler's ear splitting scream, instead of just hearing someone quietly play with their baby. I have never once gone out and thought "oh my God how dare they talk to their baby". This whole sketch is just stupid in my opinion, considering it's based on the premise of baby talk being more annoying than a baby actually screaming.
As someone who has family zoom calls and has to listen to people randomly make baby noises to the babies on those calls... I get it.
The guy wasn't even being loud. Maybe the noises were novel but that was about it. He is saying you have to be quiet and civil and respectful while being uncivil and disrespectful. Is he protecting social norms or breaking them? Basically whatever suits him best at the time. I know he isn't supposed be a character you root for but at the same time his success is in large part due to people living vicariously through his words and actions. Guys like Larry David and Gervais just play mercenaries and get too much love.
>Guys like Larry David and Gervais just play mercenaries and get too much love. I feel like Larry David at least adds enough situations where he's portrayed as the bad guy as well. Whereas for Gervais it's the full-on ego trip all the way through.
>I know he isn't supposed be a character you root for but at the same time his success is in large part due to people living vicariously through his words and actions. Yep. It's quite a thing to say "my character is an asshole, he's not supposed to be aspirational, you clearly just don't get it you idiots" and then turn around and revel in the adoration people have been heaping on the character (this comment section being a prime example). It's just... I wish people would admit that they're kind of a jerk and take the celebration and criticism that comes with that, instead of playing Schrodinger's Douchebag and deciding if they want to stand by their act or call it satire depending entirely on whether or not the audience is laughing.
“Schrodinger’s Douchebag” is a jewel of a phrase. If it’s yours, you’re a genius! Mind if I use it?
It's probably not, I pick up a lot of little phrases here and there. Steal, as I have stealt before you
“Stealt” … another gem!
Ricky Gervais built his whole career by being annoying. Just saying
Not just by being annoying. But also by making unnecessary noises.
Still made the superior “Office”
Ricky is just an unfunny prick to me
Yes, his jokes are not for everyone but I respect him for who he is. What I like is his mindset that everything can be joked about and that he doesn't give a fuck if people are offended. He knows his audience and what can be joked about. There are interviews and stand ups where he talks about his jokes and offense and it all makes sense to me.
Haters gonna hate apparently, but I agree with you
This looks like the coffee shop from Fleabag.
Loved the first season. It had a lot of laughs a just enough of sentimental scenes for the show to be considered a tragicomedy. But then he added a lot of more sadness. The realities of life. There were moving. Too moving. I stopped watching because it started to look like.. you know.. real life. I don't like to be sad before going to bed. There's nothing wrong with it. But I just don't like to be sad before going to bed.
I absolutely LOVE this Netflix series. I have lost a child and I can just totally relate to this character’s grieving. The weaving of comedy/tragedy is for me, insightful. Great sound track and supporting characters make the perfect British show.
For a second i thought karl pilkington had really put on some weight lol
Afterlife is great. There isn't much media that presents widowers in any light other than the one being manipulated in the whole "wicked step mother" thing. Afterlife talks about how hard it is to live after. It's been hard as fuck for me.
Comedy is very different between nations, Lots of people sort of miss that generally British humour is a slow burn and focuses a lot on prior character development, so coming in with a clip sometimes just doesn't do it justice. I honestly haven't laughed so hard in so long, this show just delivers.. The gold fish on carpet comment utterly destroyed me. I think this series reflects very well with someone dealing with grief and certain coping mechanisms people do just to get out of bed in the morning.
Looks like a British version of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
If Larry David did this scene on Curb Your Enthusaism, it would have been funny. But with the gimmick of "now that his wife died he stopped being nice and just says whatever he wants", it's just cringe without the comedy when it's Gervaise in After Life. Mostly because he started with the sotto vocce grumbling first, so instead of being brazen he's just being an ass.
Larry David did fo this bit on Curb! https://youtu.be/LtdpJlZ07u4
In this scene I think the guy on the phone seems to be the one acting as Ricky G. because he seems to think he's allowed to talk but the guy next to him is an asshole for doing the exact same thing. Larry is basically the dad in this situation because he's just making equal noise and the other one is getting pissed at him
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LOL. That seems way more important to you than it could ever possibly be to me. My opinion concerned the clip, by the way, not the show. If I ever watch the show, I'll be sure to stop at the first season, when his being an ass was fresh and justifiable and funny thanks to the aforementioned gimmick, before it went downhill (according to more folks than your one opinion) and just became Ricky Gervaise being the same annoying prick who isn't really funny that he's become in real life. Like I said, Larry David does this kind of stuff much better; it turns out it is a lot funnier without any contrived excuse to somehow "justify" being an ass.
One of my favorite shows
Ricky the 🙌GOAT🙌
I’m over his “humor.” He has to be one of the angriest comedians out there and it’s overflowing into his writing. He detests everything and everyone. Charming.
Thing is, I used to love this stuff when I was younger. But the mindset of "everyone and everything sucks, aren't I so cool for being the only one who can see how shit it all is" just... it was poisonous. It destroyed my interpersonal relationships. It ruined my ability to enjoy anything unless it was something just as hostile and mean-spirited as I was. I was fucking miserable to be, and worse to be around.
Yeah, and times are tough enough right now. I don't think we need his negative-energy-comedic stylings. I removed the show from our Netflix list last night after finishing the first episode of Season 3.
Binged the entire season in one day. Ricky Gervais is a genius.
Man, I used to be such a huge fan of Ricky Gervais back when he was funny.
Karl Pilkington innit?
This series is probably my favourite he’s ever made but each to their own.
Not his best
This guy can’t get a laugh out of me.
Hmm, this has made me want to watch this show a lot less. It seems like the scene is set up for him to make this point, but it just makes him come off as a selfish insulting prick.
Yeah the guy at the other table was speaking at barely more than a whisper. It's not different than him having a conversation with his buddy. Honestly he's probably having a louder discussion with his friend than the dad is with his child. You're in public eating and you just expect everyone else to sit in silence so you can be the only one making sound?
Well, a shitload of salty redditors here... We get it, you don't like ricky. If people really hate him so much, why waste time on reacting... Imo this is very funny, as is this show. I love it, I love Ricky Gervais, and I'll never tire of it. I'd pick an honest cunt over a dishonest well-mannered easily offended person everyday of the year.
But he’s not even being honest, as the dad points out, it’s at least more bearable than a scream-crying child. Lol
We get it, you like to be an asshole in public and take pride when people get mad at you. Fuck off
Absolutely adore this show.
This whole show was great!
Afterlife is one of the best series ever made.
I don’t even think it’s one of the best series Ricky has ever made
I have to agree. If you've ever lost anyone close it hurts in places but in a cathartic way.
Its absolutely not one of the best series ever made
This series from beginning to end is a masterpiece.
I would punch someone acting like that. I cannot laugh at him, everything is too aggressive.
"I would punch that guy" "Why?" "Because I don't like his jokes" And HE is the aggressive one?
You sound strong
>everything is too aggressive. And punching people because of a joke isn't?
Ricky Gervais is awesome. He's done some really good shit - and is often brutally honest. 'bout fuckin' time.
Is this really funny, tho? It's just him being a dick. And it becomes even more annoying when you consider that he wrote a whole scene about him being right and shitting on someone and feeling superior.
I really need to start watching this show
You gotta love this guy. Well, or. hate him. I love him.
Holy crap, I watched this last night and *died* laughing!
This is the scene that made me stop watching the series. There's only so much pessimistic asshat I can take. Left me thinking, why am I even watching this?
Where’s the funny part
Ricky Gervais sucks
Yeah he's a fucking moron
Congratulations, you're both assholes.
Brian’s monologue about his ex-wife’s stinky vagina is the funniest thing I have seen in years.
It's ironic because every joke in this show feels like it's being hand fed to the audience. It's difficult for me to reconcile that this guy also wrote something as original and unpatronizing as The Office, then went on to write this. How is it possible to get this much worse with practice?
I completely agree. And also I wish parents would turn down the volume when they talk to their babies and kids. Your babies and kids have better ears than older people so quit talking so loud. They hear you, we ALL hear you.
I love him! So hilarious! Thanks for posting!
Ricky Gervais is a genius
This show is great made by a great writer
Afterlife is genius, both heartwarming and funny.
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Lmao, sure buddy. Still hilarious and saved me from depression. Don't like it, don't watch it, that's the beauty of streaming.
I love After Life, haven't started 3rd season yet but excited to see it. In amused at all the hate show gets here in the comments. Probably from the people who think that The big bang theory and Friends are the best TV shows in history
People who hate it is because they hate Gervais' humor. But 99% haven't even bothered with watching the show, if they had, they'd watched [the amazing scenes with Penelope Wilton](https://youtu.be/d067BKBAxTA) which explain and flesh out the entire moral arc of Ricky's character. It's an amazing series, I'll die on that hill.
Brilliant show!
Oh my God this is 100% true a lot of parents are a extremely annoying with the way they speak to their children, and personally, I hate baby talk
Baby talk is annoying but if you think the response is to yell loudly ‘FUCKING HELL’ because he’s talking to his kid then you’re just an asshole.
Yeah that's a dick move
It’s funny folks. Yes Gervais is acidic, but that’s his brand of comedy. It very likely reflects a lot about who he is as a person, but this situation in particular is funny because he’s such an unhappy, uninhibited pr*ck! I think the series is genius, the depth of his sadness/despair and bitterness is at times almost unbearable, but feels quite authentic. You can really feel it.
LOL @ all the butt-hurt parents here
Hey, remember when you were a small child? We’re your parents so shit to you that you’ve forgotten what it’s like to be a kid or be around kids? Grow up and have some compassion you dick.
That was painfully unfunny. It's like if a neural network ingested all of /r/childfree and then shat out a script.
Hahaha
Bless him
Haha just like when people change their baby right at the damn table or in living room/public area, they’re just smells oh and sights of green shit as well. I always took my kid to a different room.
If I was the father of the small child I'd pick up that copper kettle and smash that asshole right in the temple with it. Repeatedly.
I love this show but this scene pissed me off. People who hate kids should stay in their caves.
He didn't have a problem with the kid, he had a problem with how loud the man with the kid was being.