1922 - The Office: Christmas Special

I haven't seen this in years and since I'm re-studying the mockumentary style there's few finer examples.  This series has inspired me to no end, and I believe it's the awkward humour and the way it tickles the heart that's absolutely seeped into my own style.  There's something so admirable about the way that the British do their series, short and sweet, and never any waste.  It's surprising to think that this is over a decade old now, or around that.  I love the honest and simple closure that this gave the world and the characters we'd grown to love.  David Brent doesn't ride off into the sunset, but we see he's grown a backbone and making choices he never would have made at the beginning of the series.  It's simple and so effective.  If you haven't watch this, the original version of The Office, I don't want to ruin anything for you.  There's much debate over Jim and Pam Vs. Tim and Dawn - and while I love them both, it's hard to beat the original.
Please, if you've never see it, get on it.  There's only 14 episode of the entire series - it's a crime not to give it that 7hrs of your life, even this many years later.  Pretty please, with sugar on top, watch this!

1870 - Hall Pass

The irony is that I'm watching this film while my wife and kids are out of town.  This film is quite charming.  I'm a fan of pretty much the entire cast, so that's a big plus right there.  The premise is simple and fun.  I like where it goes and does with the premise.  It could have very easily been a different kind of film in the hands of other filmmakers.  The plot, for those that don't know, is two married men who can't get sex off their brains are given a week off from marriage to get it out of their systems.  Hilarity ensures.  To be honest I didn't find it laugh-out-loud funny - but I was smiling through-out and entertained, and I'm happy to recommend it for that reason alone!

1679 - Life's Too Short: season one

I think that it goes without saying that Merchant and Gervais are two of the most inspiring people working in comedy today.  Their first two series The Office and Extras are near perfect - especially their finales. I was ridiculously excited to see this new series, the title alone along with the concept was a lot of fun, and the idea that Merchant and Gervais would be playing themselves.  It's their usual awkward humour, and it's probably never more awkward than it is here.  And I know that I'm echoing this from other reviewers, but it really does feel that Warwick has been asked to turn himself into the next David Brent (which he does wonderfully).  You're never rooting for him so much as you're excited to see just how terribly he's going to mess up whatever situation he's in.  Or when something good happens, how bad it's going to become shortly thanks to karma.  I can't imagine that in real life that Davis is anything even close to the asshole he plays on the show, but he's quite terrible here, and it ultimately makes me wonder if this show isn't just about amusing the creators themselves... all you need to do is watch some one of the behind the scenes videos to see how enjoyable it is for Gervais to watch Warwick doing uncomfortable things.  And it's not unlike their reality series An Idiot Abroad, where he admits to the show being about him really like watching him put his friend in terrible situations.  Given that another season on this series has already been announced it might be far too early to write it off, but given where and how it ends I'm just not sure where it can and will go, and sadly, I'm not sure I care.  Unlike Extras and The Office there aren't any characters here who I actually like and want to root for, instead it's more like slowing down to watch a car wreck - which is fine the first time through, but hard to talk yourself into going back for a second glance.  The Huffington Post put it quite well:

There were laughs of course, and by the standards of average TV sitcoms Life's Too Short was excellent. But Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant will never be measured against the standards of average TV sitcoms - nor would they wish to be. The Office and Extras, particularly the denouements, made comedy into something stirring and beautiful and new.
In the end the disappointing thing about Life's Too Short wasn't that the falling out of cars and not reaching door bells felt like exploitation - it's that they felt like the freshest ideas on offer.

So if you love Gervais and Merchant then you'll want to give this a go, but it's far from their best work.