This is definitely not a Ricky Gervais comedy show that you'd expect to be watching after seeing The Office, Extras or Life's Too Short. I want to say, I appreciate the social awareness part of the project about elderly people and struggles in retirement homes. And I understand how the show is trying to give watchers some life lessons through Derek's words. But to be honest, that's all it is about the show, nothing else to watch there.
Ricky Gervais is trying to play a character who is having somewhat mental/social disabilities. Yet, he is failing so bad at it, he looks more like making an insulting mimic of someone.
Half of every episode is filled with cheesy TV commercial looking scenes, so cheesy even for the year 2012. Slowly moving cameras, sad piano/violin/guitar solo music in the background, one of the characters is talking to you about some life lessons. First time I saw a scene like that in the show, I personally thought it was part of some sarcastic joke of him, mocking with those type of cliché video clips. But appaprently, it wasn't a joke and in fact, it was the central idea of everything about the show. It almost felt like Ricky Gervais was forced to make this project as a community service punishment of some sort, so he was only trying to get it over with it.
Comedy-wise, there weren't any moments in the show that I could say it was really funny. Only maybe, some naive situations and conversations that Derek's got into made me smile. I would just say "this was never meant to be a comedy, so it's fine", only if they didn't put those extra dorky characters into the show like Dougie and Kev. It is very obvious it was meant to be more comedy than a drama, and they were failed so bad at it. Unless of course, you find it funny that a twisted minded freak character (Kev) making sexually perverted comments every once a while, then you might be okay with the show.
Basically, they made a very bad job at combining drama and comedy in this title. They could easily make a brilliant full-length drama movie out of the story itself, without Ricky Gervais in front of the cameras.
Ricky Gervais is trying to play a character who is having somewhat mental/social disabilities. Yet, he is failing so bad at it, he looks more like making an insulting mimic of someone.
Half of every episode is filled with cheesy TV commercial looking scenes, so cheesy even for the year 2012. Slowly moving cameras, sad piano/violin/guitar solo music in the background, one of the characters is talking to you about some life lessons. First time I saw a scene like that in the show, I personally thought it was part of some sarcastic joke of him, mocking with those type of cliché video clips. But appaprently, it wasn't a joke and in fact, it was the central idea of everything about the show. It almost felt like Ricky Gervais was forced to make this project as a community service punishment of some sort, so he was only trying to get it over with it.
Comedy-wise, there weren't any moments in the show that I could say it was really funny. Only maybe, some naive situations and conversations that Derek's got into made me smile. I would just say "this was never meant to be a comedy, so it's fine", only if they didn't put those extra dorky characters into the show like Dougie and Kev. It is very obvious it was meant to be more comedy than a drama, and they were failed so bad at it. Unless of course, you find it funny that a twisted minded freak character (Kev) making sexually perverted comments every once a while, then you might be okay with the show.
Basically, they made a very bad job at combining drama and comedy in this title. They could easily make a brilliant full-length drama movie out of the story itself, without Ricky Gervais in front of the cameras.